


Misconceptions

by Evita76



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Case Fic, Drunk Sex, First Kiss, First Time, Friends to Lovers, Insecure Derek Morgan, M/M, Misunderstandings, Oblivious Spencer Reid, POV Derek Morgan, Romance, Sex, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 08:28:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 33
Words: 38,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28525476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evita76/pseuds/Evita76
Summary: After a difficult case and a night of drinking in a club, Derek Morgan wakes up in bed next to Spencer Reid. He can't remember how he got there or what happened that night. Derek, who has never had a single sexual thought about men before, is totally rattled. Before Spencer wakes up, he sneaks away. But he knows: the moment of truth is inevitably approaching. How will Spencer react to the night and, more importantly, to Derek's disappearance? And what does the night mean for Derek himself?
Relationships: Derek Morgan/Spencer Reid
Comments: 157
Kudos: 266





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Missverständnisse](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28527342) by [Evita76](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evita76/pseuds/Evita76). 



> This is my first story in the Criminal Minds fandom and my first fanfic since a very long time. Also, English is not my first language. I don't have a beta reader, so I welcome any constructive criticism.  
> The story is still ongoing, but I'll try to post updates regularly.

Derek Morgan woke up groaning. His head was pounding. Carefully, he opened his eyes a tiny bit, only to immediately squeeze them shut again. Why did it have to be so bright already? Why had he forgotten to close the curtains?

Derek pressed a hand to his forehead, hoping that this would help him to control the violent headache. What time was it anyway? He hadn't been awakened by his alarm clock, nor by the ringing of his cell phone. Was there still time to bury himself in the pillows again and hope that the headache would subside a bit?

Another groan escaped his lips as he realized that he himself was to blame for the violent throbbing in his head. Why had he let his baby girl tempt him into drinking like that last night? That wasn't usually his style.

Yes, admittedly, it had been a very fun evening that had made him forget, at least temporarily, the horror of the past few days. They had just returned from Boston that afternoon, after helping the local police catch a serial killer and rapist. The criminal had been targeting young bank employees because one of them had refused to give him the loan he wanted. After losing his house to the bank as a result, the guy had completely lost it. His actual target had been unattainable - the young woman was on her honeymoon. But a total of eleven young women became his victims until the BAU got on his trail - unfortunately an hour too late. They could only recover the eleventh victim dead as well.

Such days called for a distraction and Penelope had seen to that. She had picked up the team on their return and - without paying attention to any objections - dragged them first to dinner at an excellent Italian restaurant and then to a club. Okay, that's not where the entire team had ended up. Hotch and J.J. had opted out to get back to their kids. But the rest of the team was there, even Reid, who was rarely seen in a club.

Another groan forced itself over Morgan's lips. He would make sure his baby girl kept him supplied with pain pills and coffee all day today. She owed him that much! After all, it was she who had started ordering round after round of shots after the first few cocktails. Only Reid had been spared her persuasions to indulge in alcohol. Everyone on the team knew the boy was quite a flyweight when it came to alcohol. He rarely drank, and he couldn't hold more than a glass or two. Emily and Rossi, on the other hand, had kept up well, toasting him and Penelope at every shot. How many rounds had that actually been?

Derek tried again to open his eyes, but the light was still far too bright. As long as the alarm didn't go off, it was all good. Don't stir, that was probably the best he could do right now. And hope that the alarm clock was even set for the right time. But Derek almost didn't care at the moment.

He tried hard to remember how long he had stayed in the club with the others and when he had come home. But at this point there was a big black hole there this memory should be. Hopefully it would come back to him before he ran into his colleagues. Penelope would certainly be amused if he had to confess to a film break.

Maybe he should try to get up gradually after all. Certainly everything would take him a little bit longer today, and he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of his team that some alcohol was affecting him so much that he would be late for work.

Derek forced himself to open his eyes and keep them open as well. But as he stared at the ceiling, he paused. Since when was his bedroom so high? And what was that old-fashioned lamp doing up there?

Something wasn't right here. Hadn't he covered his bed with dark blue satin linen? The thin sheet he had pulled halfway across his chest was definitely white.

Had he not come home at all during the night? Where the hell had he ended up?

At that moment, he noticed movement next to him in the bed. Damn! Who had he ended up in bed with?

Cautiously, he turned his head to the side.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes the next, also still quite short chapter. The next chapters are already almost finished and only need a little revision.   
> Thanks a lot for the kudos! I would also appreciate comments on my story.

Derek's eyes snapped open when he saw the tousled mop of hair next to him - and realized who it belonged to: Spencer Reid.

Damn it, what had happened? This couldn't be happening!

For a moment, Derek tried to convince himself that what he suspected couldn't be true. No, he certainly hadn't slept with Reid. That was completely out of the question. He wasn't into men. And Reid? Well, he wasn't much into sex in general, as far as Derek could tell.

Derek racked his already aching brain, but it wouldn't dawn on him what had led to him now lying in Reid's bed.

Surely it would be best to leave now, before this became even more embarrassing for them both. Carefully, Derek pushed his way to the edge of the bed. But as he pulled back the covers a little to stand up, a loud curse almost escaped him. Okay, the fact that he'd only slept next to Reid and it was all completely harmless and innocent was probably something he could forget - given the fact that he was completely naked. Where the heck were his boxers - not to mention the rest of his clothes?

As Derek carefully got up so as not to wake Reid, he was relieved to discover that at least the boxers weren't far away. They were halfway between the bed and the bedroom door. It didn't take a profiler to guess that the rest of his clothes were next door.

Quietly, Derek slipped out and closed the door behind him as silently as possible. His guess turned out to be correct immediately. Socks, jeans, shoes, shirt - all there. And nicely united with Reid's clothes on a path from the couch to the bedroom door. That cleared up the last doubts about what had happened here that night. Derek couldn't tell right now whether it was good or bad that he couldn't remember anything at all. What would Reid say when they met later in the office? Would he possibly accuse him that he, Derek, had taken advantage of his naivety and seduced him?

Derek didn't even want to think about it yet. He quickly slipped into his clothes. Finished dressing, he hesitantly stopped at the small cabinet next to Reid's apartment door. Next to the landline phone there was a small notepad. Should he leave a message for Reid? But what was he supposed to write?

Derek shook his head, opened the door, and quietly made his way home.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because the last chapter was so short, there's another one today.  
> Let me know if you like the story. Feedback fuels my writing flow ;-)

"Good morning!" exclaimed Penelope Garcia cheerfully as Derek stepped into the elevator beside her. "How's my chocolate muffin today?"

"Mmm, not so loud, baby girl," Derek muttered, pressing two fingers to his temple. The extensive showering and the two pain pills he'd swallowed were having only a limited effect.

"Oh, did my hot chocolate get too much rum on it?" pretended Penelope sympathetically, unable to stifle a grin after all. "Do you want Mommy to make it better with a kiss?"

"How can you be in such a good mood after all that alcohol?" tried Derek to distract her. "I vaguely remember you being so drunk that Emily insisted on taking you all the way home in a cab. Not that Em was much more sober. And Rossi? What happened to him, anyway? Can't remember when he left."

"Oh, Rossi made friends with one of the bartenders. He stayed after we left," Penelope explained, adding with a grin, "Maybe he's looking for wife number four."

"They were all way too young for him," grumbled Derek. He didn't want to deal with Rossi's love life right now. It brought to his mind far too quickly that he himself had a problem ahead of him in that regard, too.

"Women are just tougher," Penelope immediately returned to the topic at hand. "We just break down alcohol a lot faster. I spoke to Emily on the phone this morning, too. Had to thank her for protecting me on the way home."

The elevator reached their floor and Derek and Penelope stepped out. But before they could part ways, the technical analyst held Derek back by the arm. "You got home okay, too, didn't you?"

Derek groaned. Had the moment of truth arrived yet? He didn't really want to confess to his baby girl until he'd talked to Reid about last night.

"Hey, it couldn't have been that bad for Reid to drive you home. I know his old car isn't up to your standards, but at least he saved you a long cab ride. And he was so worried about you. I don't think he's ever seen you drink so much."

"Well, I guess that's your fault," Derek grumbled sullenly. At least some light was coming on now. Reid had wanted to take him home. But how had they ended up at Reid's apartment instead? Unfortunately, he couldn't ask Penelope about it without confessing that he hadn't slept at home at all.

"What possessed you to fill me up with so much alcohol, anyway?" inquired Derek of his friend. Penelope tilted her head. "I just figured you ... needed it. Hmm ... Didn't quite work out, I guess. Sorry, loverboy. I'll bring you a big coffee later. With lots of love. I'm sure it'll help your head." Penelope threw Derek a kiss and then quickly disappeared around the corner towards her computer cave.

If only some coffee would do the trick, Derek thought. It just wouldn't make his problems disappear into thin air either, unfortunately.

He made his way to the bullpen and breathed a sigh of relief when he found it still empty. Upstairs in the offices, he could see both Hotch and Rossi sitting at their desks, but the others were clearly not there yet. Hesitantly, Derek settled down at his desk and looked thoughtfully at the desk across from him. When would Reid show up there? What would he say? Would he even talk to him? Or would he make a scene at him for simply disappearing without a word? Would he have been better off staying and waiting for Reid to wake up?

When did I become such a coward, Derek mused. Why was he so upset by all this?

Startled, he looked up when he suddenly heard a voice. "Hi, Morgan!" called J.J. cheerfully as she settled into her seat. "I heard you guys had a very boozy evening last night?"

"Who was that spilling the beans," Derek immediately wanted to know.

"Oh, I guess that was me," interjected Emily, who was just rounding the corner. She hesitated, then laughed out loud. "Could it be that someone can't hold their liquor? You look terrible, Morgan."

"Could it be you guys put something in my cocktails or shots?" asked Morgan back. It was really beyond him how Prentiss and Garcia could look so fresh when he was in such bad shape.

"Hey, don't blame us if you start getting old and can't handle a little bit of alcohol," Prentiss returned immediately. "Then you'll just have to do like Reid and stay abstinent. I'm sure our boy wonder doesn't have a headache today."

As if Prentiss had conjured him up with her words, Spencer stepped around the corner at that moment. "What's the matter with me? Why would I have a headache?" he inquired, having only caught the last sentence.

While Emily briefly filled him in on the conversation between her and Derek, the latter couldn't help but stare unblinkingly at Spencer. When would the bomb go off?

"Derek?"

Derek startled out of his thoughts when he heard his name. Shit. J.J., Prentiss, and Reid had caught him staring at Reid.

"Sorry, what did you guys say? I don't think I'm quite myself today. Shouldn't have gotten up," Derek muttered to himself. And could have slapped himself in the next moment. Would Reid now relate that to him getting out of the his bed?

But Spencer just smiled a little to himself. "You'll survive that little hangover."

Slowly, Reid trotted over to his desk and began unpacking his bag. Derek played around uncertainly with the pencil he held in his hands. Should he say something now? Or wait? Was this even the right place? If the conversation got awkward, he didn't really like having onlookers. But what if Reid brought up the subject of their night right away?

But before Derek could bring himself to make a decision, he was snapped out of his thoughts by Hotch's voice. "Briefing in five minutes. We have a new case," their team leader announced.

"I guess the bad guys really don't want to give us a break," Prentiss sighed. J.J. nodded, "They don't even take into consideration that we haven't even finished the paperwork on the last case."

"You coming?"

Derek looked up. Reid stood waiting beside his desk, looking at him questioningly. Where was his mind all the time today? Oh yeah, that's right, in the bed of the man who was currently standing in front of him - looking as if absolutely nothing had happened between them. Derek nodded. "Yeah, I’ll be right there." He desperately needed another pain pill before he could move on to the next case.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the initial comments. I look forward to discussing the story with you and getting suggestions from you.

Derek stared at the file he had in his lap, but if someone asked him what it was about, he couldn't tell them. He was supposed to be concentrating right now, because people's lives depended on him doing his job right.

As it turned out, Aaron Hotchner had been in the office for quite some time before his team, and during that time a case landed on his desk that immediately demanded the team. Three teachers had been murdered in Atlanta the previous night, all working at the same school. Understandably, fear and dread now swept through the teaching community. The school had been closed and all teachers told to stay at home. But after all three victims had been shot in their own homes, this did not mean that the teachers were now safe. And since the high school's staff numbered nearly 200, placing everyone under police protection was out of the question. The Atlanta Police Department's lead detective had quickly realized that he needed immediatly assistance here, so he turned to the BAU. Now the entire team was on the jet, preparing to arrive in Atlanta during the two-hour flight.

"Have the police arrested any suspects yet?" inquired Rossi, who sat across from Morgan. Hotch next to him shook his head. "The Atlanta Police Department suspects it may have been a student, but they haven't gotten beyond those suspicions yet. The murders occurred in quick succession, the last one just a few hours ago. They're still completely wrapped up in forensics."

"This whole thing is a press feeding frenzy," Jennifer Jareau spoke up. "I bet the vultures are already circling."

Hotch nodded. "The first radio stations are already covering it. That's why you're going to go with me to the police office and coordinate with the press officer there on what's going out. I want to keep as much of all this under wraps as possible until we've screened all the information that's out there and the profile is solid."

The team leader then looked to Rossi, "The principal is the only one under police protection right now. You and Emily meet with him at the school. We need to know if there have been any threats, incidents that point to a perpetrator, trouble with students or parents beyond the usual."

Rossi nodded. "Back to school. I don't envy those teachers or the students."

"Morgan, Reid," Hotch continued. "You're looking at the three crime scenes. Our local law enforcement colleagues should still be at the last one at this time. Your best bet is to start there."

"That was the gym teacher," muttered Spencer, who was sitting across the aisle. "I'm sure there are plenty of students who suffered under him."

Derek refrained from commenting. His heart was beating a little faster now that he knew the confrontation with Reid was imminent. He was nervous, something he didn't usually experience from one night stands. And he could hardly describe the past night as anything else. But there was nothing about this night that he was used to. He didn't usually get into bed with female colleagues, avoided even fleeting affairs with female police officers with whom they worked on individual cases. And certainly he did not start anything with men! These two things made him more uneasy than he, who was usually so self-confident, wanted to admit.

But he knew that he had to get the whole matter out of the way as quickly as possible. How else could he concentrate on the case? He just hoped he hadn't raised any expectations in Reid that he now couldn't fulfill. That Reid wouldn't make a scene on him. That the friendship that had developed between them over the past few years wouldn't be damaged by the whole thing. Reid was important to him. It would be a disaster if their friendship was ended by a night between the sheets he couldn't even remember.

"Morgan?" suddenly Hotch's voice came through to him. Derek looked up and realized all at once that the entire team's eyes were on him. "Sorry, what?"

Emily shook her head. "Derek still seems to have too much alcohol in his blood to think rationally," she explained with a grin, adding, "I'll talk to Garcia. Maybe you'll take a nap before we land so Spencer doesn't have to do all the work alone at the crime scene." She patted his knee and then reached for her cell phone to make a call to Penelope, something that apparently should have been Derek's responsibility.

"Sorry," Morgan apologized again. "My headache just won't go awa. But by the time we land, I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Do you need any pills?" inquired Reid sympathetically, and immediately began digging around in his ever-present messenger bag. He dug out a small bottle and held it out to Derek. Derek looked hesitantly from Reid's hand to his face. But there he could read nothing but sympathy. Apparently, at least, the boy wasn't angry with him for disappearing. "Thanks," Derek muttered, fishing a tablet out of the bottle. If only there were a cure for all this misery.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos!  
> Enjoy the next chapter!

"I'm sorry," Reid declared the moment he closed the door of the black SUV behind him and sat alone in the vehicle with Derek. Derek's fingers tightened around the steering wheel. So now this was the moment. "You're sorry? Why is that?" he muttered, forcing himself to start the vehicle. They had an important job, after all, and couldn't waste time sitting around in a parked car. "I am sorry," he continued before Reid could reply. "After all, it was me who just sneaked away."

"Don't worry about it," Reid said. "I didn't expect you to still be there in the morning, either."

Derek glanced quickly over at Spencer. He hadn't anticipated that. "So you're not mad that I took off?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Derek noticed Reid shaking his head. "But I hope you're not mad at me for making you feel so miserable now," the young genius said, and Derek could feel his scrutinizing gaze on him. "It's my own fault, isn't it, if I let Penelope lead me to drink like that?" he declared, wondering at the same time if Reid didn't mean something else entirely.

"Yes, but I shouldn't have taken advantage of it."

"W... what?" Derek was speechless. Was that to mean that Reid had just admitted to taking advantage of the opportunity to seduce him?

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that," Reid continued simply. "I should have realized that more alcohol could only hurt. But you know, I can't hold my liquor, you were so funny, I wanted to be funny too. So one thing led to another."

Instead of clarity, Reid's words only brought more confusion for Derek. It was just as well that he could still listen to the GPS with at least half an ear, otherwise they would probably not arrive at their crime scene today. Derek followed the indicated turnoff, trying to sort out his thoughts - and the growing number of questions. "More alcohol? Does that mean we drank some more after the club?"

Spencer looked over at Derek in surprise. "You don't remember that?"

"Not really?" confessed Derek hesitantly - and got a giggle from Spencer in response. "Oh dear, I really didn't intend that," the boy said and then explained, "I was going to take you home, but on the way we talked about cocktails and other alcohol. And I told you I've had a bottle of whiskey sitting around for years. It's supposed to be excellent, but I've never gotten around to drinking it. You know ..."

"Sure, alcohol isn't your thing," Derek added. "So that means we went to your place and tasted the whiskey?"

"Tasted it?" Spencer tousled his hair. "I'd say we killed it. At least the bottle was completely empty this morning."

Derek groaned. Of course, that explained why he had such a headache. Since Reid actually looked pretty fresh, the boy had probably only gotten a small fraction of what Derek had drunk. But there was still the question of how they had ended up in bed. Reid hadn't brought up that fact yet. In general, he seemed pretty calm about the whole thing.

"And ... and then?"

"Well, the rest is just history," Reid said cheerfully. "Unless you're mad at me for getting you extra drunk after all." Spencer squinted cautiously over at Derek. "No ... no, I'm telling you, if something like this happens, it's my own fault."

"Whew, I'm really relieved then. I wouldn't have known how to make amends. But I can see you're not comfortable with it. Should we just forget about the whole night? I won't tell anyone about it either."

Forget the night? It was that easy with Reid? Derek didn't understand the world anymore.

"Yeah, ... yeah," he muttered hesitantly. "Maybe that really is for the best." After all, it was supposed to be easy for him. In the end, he didn't remember most of the night at all anyway.

Derek turned into the small street of a pretty residential area where, according to the GPS, the gym teacher's house was to be found. For Reid, the whole thing seemed to be done with that brief conversation. Friendship intact, back to normal. But Derek had the uneasy feeling that he himself couldn't put this thing behind him very well.


	6. Chapter 6

Sometimes Derek cursed his job. There wasn't even a full day between this case and the last one, and after the all-nighter he felt completely drained. The Atlanta Police Department had done a good job at the three crime scenes, but that wasn't nearly enough to create a solid suspect profile just yet.

All three teachers, physical education teacher John Carter, English teacher Vanessa Partridge, and chemistry teacher Ben Horten, had been shot in their homes, Partridge and Horten in their sleep, Carter as he was coming down the stairs from the top floor. Presumably, he had heard that someone had entered the house and wanted to confront the would-be burglar. A baseball bat lying at the foot of the stairs, bearing only the victim's fingerprints, indicated this.

The murders had occurred about two hours apart, one after the other. Horten had probably been killed between midnight and one o'clock. The chemistry teacher lived alone, so it was not yet possible to narrow down the time more precisely. Hopefully, questioning the neighbors could shed some light on this. Partridge had become the killer's next victim shortly after three o'clock. The perpetrator had entered the house unnoticed and had surprised the woman in her sleep. Her husband was out of town on business, and the children had only been awakened by the gunshots. They had rushed out of their beds to see where the noise was coming from, but by then the perpetrator had disappeared. Derek didn't like to imagine how horrible it had been for eight-year-old Sophie and ten-year-old Thomas to discover their dead mother. The children had eventually run to the neighbors, who had alerted the police. But the police did not realize that this was a connected series of murders until the third murder was reported around five o'clock. Carter's wife had been awakened by the shots fired at her husband and had immediately run out of the bedroom, only to find her husband dead on the stairs. She had explained to the officers that she had had the impression that someone had disappeared out the door at that moment, but she could not remember more than that vague feeling. Perhaps a cognitive interview with her could yield more clues.

By now, half the afternoon had passed and Derek was sitting in the briefing room that had been assigned to his team, studying the records of the witness interviews that the local police had already conducted. Rossi and Emily had not yet returned from school. Obviously, the principal had some things to report. J.J. was preparing initial information with the press secretary to give to the media, while Hotch was coordinating with the lead detective on how many forces could be mobilized to protect the teachers. Because, unfortunately, no one could believe that it was all over with these three murders.

Derek looked up briefly from the file in front of him. He was still finding it difficult to really concentrate. And that was due in no small part to the fact that Reid was standing just a few feet away from him, placing flags on a map of the city. He was marking the homes of the high school teachers to begin a geographic profile. The temporal distance of the murders compared to the physical distance of the crime scenes from each other already showed something clear: The perpetrator was definitely motorized. By public transportation, or even by bicycle or on foot, the murders could not have succeeded each other in such a relatively short time.

"Is something wrong?" inquired Reid suddenly, without turning around.

"Um, no. Why?" returned Derek.

"Because I notice you've been staring at me - or even the map - for a few minutes now. Have you noticed anything I haven't?" Now Reid did cast a glance over his shoulder.

Derek shook his head. "No, I was just ... just thinking about how the perpetrator could get into all three houses so undetected. How come nobody has an alarm system there?"

Spencer didn't seem to notice that Derek had whipped up an excuse on the fly, and even though the dark-skinned man could feel the heat rising in his face. It's just as well he wasn't so quick to blush. In fact, he had been thoughtfully eyeing Reid's figure, wondering why he hadn't noticed until now that the boy was really attractive in some ways. Very slim, yet just as tall as Derek himself, yet not scrawny, but with wiry muscles in all the right places.

Derek closed his eyes for a moment. Since when did he worry about whether a man, his best friend at that, was attractive? What had the alcohol done to his brain?

When he looked up again, Reid, obviously satisfied with his answer, had turned his back on him again. Derek again allowed himself a moment to scrutinize the boy. He had not been wearing those grandfather clothes for some time, in which he had been seen all too often during his first year at BAU. Shirt, vest, and dark tight jeans to go with it - that's now part of his standards. And Derek now had to realize that Reid's butt really had something in those tight jeans.

The profiler took a deep breath. He should finally get rid of these thoughts. That last night was a slip, something that would never have happened if he had been reasonably sober. He just wasn't into men. They had never been interesting to him. Not even in his teenage years had he experimented. He needed feminine curves; that was what turned him on.

"I'm going to get a coffee, do you want me to bring you one?" asked Derek as he stood up. He needed to get out of this room, if only for a few minutes to get his mind off Reid again and back on their case.

"Coffee? Always," was Spencer's short reply. Derek could hear the slight smile in his voice.

Carefully, Morgan put away the file, which he would probably have to go through all over again when he got back, and made his way to the kitchen.

Since his conversation with Reid, a second thing had been bothering him, and he couldn't put it out of his mind any more than his sudden interest in the man. Why could Reid just put the previous night out of his mind like that? He really hadn't thought of the boy that way. Had the night meant nothing to him? Should it have meant something to him? Or was Reid less innocent than Derek had thought him to be? Was a one night stand nothing special to him? Was it possible that he, Derek, was just one of many who had ended up in Reid's bed?


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks a lot for all the kudos!

"Headache still no better?" inquired Rossi as he stepped next to Derek in the small kitchen and watched him frowningly fill two coffee cups.

"Um, yeah, why?

Rossi pointed to his forehead. "The case has it in it, but those wrinkles only show up when you're in really bad shape, physically or mentally. If it's not your head, what's bothering you so much?"

Derek cursed the fact that he was working with such observant colleagues. He should have guessed that it wouldn't be long before one of them noticed that something was wrong with him.

"As you say, this case has a lot in store for us. We're still a long way from a profile, and I'm afraid our unsub might be hunting teachers again tonight. I don't think he's done yet," Derek tried to deflect.

Rossi nodded. "Sure, that's on my mind, too. And about the other thing ... if there's anything you want to talk about: you know you can always come to me," he said.

"Thanks, but there's nothing to talk about," Derek declared. Yet he knew full well that Rossi saw right through him. It took a lot, an extreme amount, for him to confide in someone else with his problems. And then that was most likely Penelope. Still, Derek appreciated the older colleague's offer. It was good to feel the man's friendship. And he knew, should he really want to talk, Rossi would be someone who wouldn’t judge him for anything.

Rossi patted Derek on the shoulder and retreated from the kitchen - without coffee. So he had specifically checked on him. Derek sighed. Rarely had he wanted so badly for a case to end quickly and for him to take a few days off. He swiftly scooped a few spoonfuls of sugar into Reid's coffee and then returned to the briefing room with both cups. In passing, he saw Emily with the gym teacher's wife in an adjacent room. Perhaps the woman had noticed something after all that could shed light on the culprit. Otherwise, the circle of possible unsubs was enormous at the moment: almost the entire student body of the high school, including all the parents who belonged to it.

"Without more data, I'm not getting anywhere," Spencer muttered as Derek entered the briefing room and handed him his coffee. "You mean without more murders," Derek grumbled. Reid ran both hands through his hair. "Yeah, ... no, ... I ... How am I going to be able to narrow anything down when the teachers are spread out all over the city and there's such a clear distance between the crime scenes? I don't think a geographic profile is going to get us anything here. Not now. The perpetrator probably doesn't choose his victims based on geographic location. He probably has very different criteria. And ... heck ... this doesn't do us any good!"

Frustrated, Spencer started to take individual flags off the map again, but Derek caught his arm and stopped him.

"I'm just as frustrated as you are, but this is going to help us. Maybe not now, but certainly later. At least this way we already know we're dealing with an unsub who has a car or motorcycle at his disposal. If there are any more attempted murders tonight" - and Derek put special emphasis on the "attempted" - "then maybe we can better narrow down how fast he moves from one point to the next, how well he knows his way around. And maybe we'll even be able to spot him somewhere based on traffic cameras along the route. So keep your markers stuck. We still need them."

Spencer nodded. He hated it when he felt like he was at a dead end, waiting for a new clue to come from somewhere.

At that moment, the cell phone Derek had set down on the table rang. "Baby girl!" greeted Morgan, delightedly, to his friend. "Tell me you have something for me!" "Of course I have something for you. You got something for me, too? You know I love anything made of chocolate!"

Derek had to grin. He could at least be sure that one thing would never change: his flirting with Penelope. "Oh, I'll bring a giant chocolate lollipop with me when I get back. Promise!" he returned, immediately hearing Garcia snicker on the other end. "But now it's your turn. What did you find?"

Derek turned on the speaker on his phone and placed it on the table so Spencer could listen in.

"So, of course, there are the usual troublemakers at Atlanta High, which also exist at other schools. I went through all the school records and cross-checked the kids who were striking with juvenile records. In fact, there are five that have stuck that have repeatedly stood out in school, some have even been temporarily suspended, and also have juvenile records for various acts of violence. I'll send you the relevant files to your tablets in a moment. After Rossi told me that there are probably also some rivalries among the teachers at the school, I also took a look at the entire teaching staff. And lo and behold, two teachers here also strike me as more than strange."

"Strange in what way?" inquired Spencer.

"Well, one, a certain Marc Yuguhashi, who is a biology teacher, has a sealed juvenile record. I'm already getting my fingers into it. As soon as I know more, I'll let you know."

"And the other one?" piped up Derek.

"Well, that one ... he's only been in existence for five years. Very strange. I just can't find anything about the man that's older than five years."

"Who is he? There must be entries about him, right? Where did he graduate from? He must have proven he's even allowed to teach." Reid nearly rolled over. For him, the news from Garcia was a bright spot that snapped him out of his frustration.

"Frederick Hollander, like Carter as a physical education teacher at the school. But he teaches computer science on the side," came Penelope's immediate response. "You should definitely take a look at him. I'll send you what I could find on him."

"Thanks my girl, you're a huge help as always," Derek said.

"Get the bad guy!" returned Penelope. "And Derek, don't forget my big dark chocolate lollipop!"

Derek grinned as he hung up. Talking to Penelope actually always improved his mood, no matter how deep a hole he was in.


	8. Chapter 8

It was already after ten o'clock in the evening when the team finally left the police station and made their way to a nearby hotel, where J.J. had meanwhile arranged rooms for them. Hotch had declared the day over, for he could see that the profilers were beginning to reach the end of their tether. He had very much hoped not to have to move out for at least a few days after the past case. How much he missed the quiet office work on days like these! And the team really deserved a little time off. But serial killers didn't take that into consideration, unfortunately.

Spencer had been frantically trying to hold on to the files Penelope had sent, but Hotch had ordered him to call it a day, too - and leave the files in the office. The boy far too seldom realized for himself that he needed rest in between, too.

"Looks cozy," Emily murmured as the group entered the hotel's foyer. The room really did radiate coziness, the big plush chairs inviting them to linger.

"And I'm sure we can get a nightcap over there," Rossi quickly stated, pointing to a doorway leading to the hotel bar.

"No alcohol, not again," Derek groaned, eliciting a laugh from the others. "Sure thing, you're welcome to stick with lemonade," Rossi grinned, patting him on the back.

J.J., meanwhile, had made her way to the counter and inquired about the rooms she had ordered. Spencer dropped into one of the chairs. "Really comfortable. I could use one of those at home," he muttered to himself. Derek had to smile. He couldn't see where Reid would put a stuffed monster like that. His couch would have to go to make room for the giant chair. And since Spencer liked to spend his days off lying on the couch and devouring books, that wasn't likely to happen.

At the thought of Spencer's living room, an image suddenly popped into Derek's head: Reid, giggling as he stretched out on the sofa, placing his head on Derek's lap. It took only seconds for the giggles to die down. And just as quickly, the image disappeared from Derek's mind. What had that been?

"Here are the room keys," Jennifer explained, placing two old-fashioned keys on the small table around which the chairs were grouped. "Breakfast is served in the room next to the bar starting at six. If you want, you can have a packed lunch made for the day. We have the rooms indefinitely, so we can leave everything we don't need tomorrow. Access to the WLAN can be found in the rooms. And as always, if you help yourself from the minibar, you pay for it yourself."

Morgan stared at the two room keys. This couldn't be happening. Now of all times? It happened all the time that two team members shared a room. Everyone had already gotten used to that. As well as the usual arrangement: J.J. together with Emily, Hotch with Rossi. Which meant that Morgan would once again be sleeping with Reid.

No! Of course not with him! Next to him! In the same room as Reid, but not with him!

It was with difficulty that Derek could just barely stifle a groan before the others became suspicious again.

"So, at the bar in half an hour?" inquired Rossi. Emily nodded immediately, while J.J. and Hotch shook their heads. Jennifer wanted to take the opportunity to talk to Will on the phone in peace. And Hotch, well he had certainly brought work with him, even if he had forbidden Reid to do so.

"And what about you two?" inquired Emily. Derek felt torn. On the one hand, he felt sick to his stomach thinking about staying in their room with Reid. On the other hand, he'd really had enough of alcohol for now. And with Rossi, he couldn't be sure that the latter wouldn't persuade him to drink after all, in order to elicit some of what had been on his mind all day.

"I'm in," Reid declared abruptly. "I feel like I can't sleep right now anyway."

Derek sent a quick thank you skyward. That was his way out. "Without me. I think my headache is coming back. I'm going to lie down."

With that, he grabbed one of the two keys and turned toward the elevator. The rustling behind him told him that Reid was following him immediately.

"You sure you don't want to come back downstairs with me," Spencer inquired as he emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later. Derek, who was rummaging in his bag for a T-shirt and shorts for the night, glanced up briefly. "Not today, wonder boy. I really need to see about getting some rest and order in my brain."

"Sorry again about that," Spencer declared contritely. "I promise I'll never seduce you into drink again."

And what about every other seduction?, it promptly popped into Derek's head. But he just muttered, "It's okay, don't worry about it anymore."

Reid grabbed the key and opened the door. Before slipping out, he glanced back. "Good night, Derek!"

And just like that, Spencer was gone. Not from Derek's thoughts, though. Sighing, he sank down on the bed and buried his face in his hands. When was this chaos in his head going to end? He looked up and sighed again. Probably not today, unless he could fall asleep before Reid reappeared and didn't wake up all night. The double room did not have separate beds, much to his chagrin. Derek didn't even like to think that all too easily the situation of the previous night could repeat itself.

Well, he himself was sober. Actually, that should prevent a repeat. But what would happen if Reid returned to the room, possibly tipsy, and tried to seduce him again? Or was one night enough for the boy and the interest was had disappeared afterwards?

Oh no, Derek didn't need such thoughts. He wasn't into men. He liked women. In all variations. Women with nice breasts. And definitely without a dick. He couldn't even imagine sex with a man. Not his cup of tea. No, not at all.

He needed a shower. Preferably ice cold. To banish all these nonsensical thoughts from his mind. And then he would look for a pretty little movie with even prettier women on his tablet. Not the professional one, of course. Who could guarantee that Garcia wouldn't stick her curious nose into his search history. A little visual distraction, maybe another visit to the shower, and he'd be sure to get a good night's sleep.

With these thoughts in mind, Derek grabbed his shorts for the night and disappeared into the bathroom.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for the new comments and kudos. They are very appreciated!  
> Here's the next chapter. It's a shorter one and because of that I'm planing to post another one this afternoon or evening.  
> Enjoy!

Derek's plan had not worked. Two hours after he turned out the light, he was still lying awake, trying to put thoughts of Reid out of his mind. Straining to distract himself with details of the case at hand, he kept finding himself letting images of Reid working on the city map force their way back into his thoughts.

When Derek suddenly heard the door being unlocked, he held his breath for a moment. Then he took a slow breath. Reid was coming back out of the bar.

Derek forced himself to keep his eyes closed and breathe slowly and deeply. It was safer if the boy thought that he, Derek, was already sound asleep. Just don't provoke something that could result in a repeat of last night.

Morgan heard Spencer moving quietly around the room. Since the curtains weren't closed, enough light filtered in to make out the outline of the furniture to some extent. Spencer rummaged briefly in his small travel bag and then disappeared into the bathroom.

Derek breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the water turn on in the shower. Now he had a few minutes to calm his nerves. Carefully, Derek slid further to the edge of the bed. If Reid lay down on his side, Derek wanted to avoid them touching at all costs.

Morgan could feel his pulse quickening. This was insanity! This was Reid they were talking about! There was no way this kid was going to jump him. They had spent umpteen nights in the same room on their missions, and some of them in the same bed. Reid himself had said they should just forget about last night's incident. So why would the boy want to make it a repeat?

He just needed to calm down, take deep breaths in and out, quiet his racing heart.

Derek's pulse had almost returned to its resting state when the bathroom door slid open quietly. Morgan couldn't quell his curiosity and blinked from nearly closed eyes over at Reid, who stuck his head out the door. Spencer hesitated a moment, apparently to see if Morgan was still fast asleep, and then quietly tiptoed out of the bathroom.

Derek suppressed a low groan as he realized in the glow of light coming from the bathroom that Reid was naked. But as much as he wanted to, he could neither avert his eyes nor close them completely. Unnoticed, he watched as Reid went back to his duffel bag and rummaged around in it. Obviously he had forgotten his pajamas in it.

Reid's back glistened in the rays of light from the bathroom, single drops of water, which also fell from his hair onto his shoulders, gave him almost something unearthly. Even better than in the afternoon, Morgan could now perceive the wiry muscles on his arms and legs. And Reid's butt ... small but firm ... it would make many a woman jealous.

Morgan couldn't avoid a quick deep breath as Reid paused and suddenly turned around to face the bed, as if sensing Derek's eyes on him. Derek had expected the flat, almost inward curving belly, but he was not prepared for Reid's penis, long and slender and just right for him.

Now Derek closed his eyes completely, but the image in front of him had already burned itself into his memory. He could feel his heart beating fast throughout his body and just hoped that Reid hadn't noticed that he was being watched. How was he going to explain this?

Derek felt it as a relief then, when after a few seconds he heard the soft click of the bathroom door, behind which Reid had disappeared again. Morgan quickly turned to the side, his back to the middle of the bed and facing the bathroom. There was no way he was going to get another look at Reid tonight, naked or clothed, if there was even a slight chance for a few hours of sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

The alarm signal of his cell phone suddenly jolted Derek out of his sleep. With his eyes closed, he groped for the nightstand, lost his footing ... and landed ungently on the floor next to the bed.

"Shit!" cursed Derek as he tried to free himself from the sheet that was wrapped around him.

"Derek?", Spencer's voice sounded above him and seconds later the latter's even more than usual tousled mop of hair became visible above the edge of the bed. "What are you doing down there," the young genius asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

"I'm trying to build a nest," Derek grumbled, finally shaking off the covers. He was dog-tired, having gotten far too little sleep, and accordingly had no desire for pointless morning chit-chat.

"A nest?" echoed Spencer cluelessly. He was still far too sleepy to perceive Derek's sarcasm.

"Yeah, because I'm sure I'll lay an egg if I have to spend another night next to you," Derek groaned disgruntledly. As he turned toward the bathroom, the hurt expression on Reid's face escaped him.

"What ... what did ... what did I do?" inquired Spencer quietly and hesitantly, but Derek already didn't hear more than the first words as he let the bathroom door fall into the lock behind him. Spencer stared at the closed door in utter confusion.

Another cold shower, Morgan thought to himself a little later as he let the icy water flow over his head and back. But he needed something to wake him up. There was a serial killer to catch. The fact that it was only half past five in the morning ought not to be a hindrance, any more than the fact that he probably hadn't slept more than three or four hours. The team was to meet for breakfast at six o'clock sharp, and Morgan could already guess that Hotch would be there to greet them with the latest news from the case.

Derek quickly finished his morning routine and then left the bathroom to Spencer, who shuffled past him with his head down. Apparently the boy hadn't slept much either. Maybe Derek should ask Rossi how much alcohol Spencer had drunk during the night. Not that a new addiction was brewing unnoticed.

The news at breakfast had a completely sobering effect on the entire team. During the night, two more assassination attempts had been made on Atlanta High teachers. While the first, which had probably again taken place shortly after midnight and had been discovered barely half an hour ago, had been successful, the second victim had survived the assassination.

"Ramondo Parentes is in hospital with a gunshot wound. He is not conscious yet, but doctors say he will make it. Some police officers are there to protect him," Hotch explained between bites into his toast. "Prentiss and Morgan, I want you guys there as soon as he wakes up. We need to find out what he saw. He might have even recognized the unsub."

Morgan nods, secretly breathing a little sigh of relief that he didn't have to spend the next few hours with Reid again right away.

"Dave, I want to look at both crime scenes myself. It would be good if you accompanied me." The Italian nodded curtly. "And Reid and J.J., you two go to the police station and try to figure out a connection between the victims with the help of Garcia. Reid, maybe with the new dots, there will be some initial findings from the geographic profile as well."

Spencer swallowed his last bite and muttered, "I don't really think so. I had already told Morgan yesterday that I didn't think the murders had any geographic connection. But, of course, I'll look into it all again."

"The suspects Garcia singled out yesterday have been called in for questioning this morning," Aaron Hotchner continued. "We're going to split up the interrogations so we can eliminate initial suspects as quickly as possible. You two," he turned back to Spencer and J.J., "can start the interrogations as soon as the first students or the two teachers arrive."

Breakfast was quickly over after this brief situation briefing and the teams got into the black SUVs provided for them.

"You don't really look any better today than you did yesterday," Emily commented after Morgan had steered the car onto the road. "I know what a hangover is, and it usually doesn't last two days. Unless you secretly dived into the minibar yesterday, you did stay sober. Are you getting sick?"

Morgan cursed for the umpteenth time that he couldn't fool his colleagues. Yesterday Rossi and today Prentiss - who would inquire next about what was wrong? He could well do without Hotch seeking a one-on-one conversation with him.

"No, there's nothing wrong. I'm in great shape," Derek tried to reassure Emily. But she immediately countered, "Well, if that's top fit, then I never want to see you when you're really down. I definitely look different when I'm well."

"Like right now with deep wrinkles on your forehead? Admit it, the case is bothering you too!", Derek now tried a diversionary tactic.

"Of course it's bothering me, too, but we've been through worse, as you must admit. And usually cases only attack you this much when kids are involved. So there is something else after all." Emily just wouldn't give up, and Derek didn't know whether to appreciate or curse the friendship that made her ask. And most importantly, how should he answer his colleagues' mounting questions?

Maybe with a half-truth?

"Okay, okay. Yes, there's something else on my mind. But you'll have to keep that to yourself," he trailed off as he steered the SUV toward the hospital where the surviving victim was currently lying.

"Oh, now it's getting exciting. Spill the beans, Morgan! I promise you, no one will hear from me," Prentiss declared, half in jest and half in earnest. Derek was relatively sure that what he would tell her in confidence, she would not tell anyone. Still, he balked at revealing the whole story to her.

"I ended up in bed with someone, a one night stand that shouldn't have happened. And ... I can't get that person out of my mind," Derek admitted hesitantly.

Emily raised her eyebrows. Everyone on the team knew that Derek was no child of innocence. After all, he was all too often seen flirting and, after a visit to one or another pub, disappearing with a female on his arm. But so far, these amorous adventures had never shown any after-effects.

"That good or that lousy?" inquired Prentiss cautiously.

"I ... don't know," Derek admitted guardedly. "Just kind of wrong."

"And now she's giving you trouble?" speculated Prentiss.

Derek just shook his head. "No, not that."

Emily couldn't figure out the answer. What is it that got the womanizer Morgan so worked up?

" A girl from the office?" she probed further.

Another shake of the head.

"Derek, could it be that you've developed an unintentional crush on her?" asked Prentiss the only question she could think of on the subject.

"No, I'm sure not," Derek immediately fought back. "I ... no. That ... person is not my type at all. And like I said, I don't even know what possessed me to sleep with her. It's just confusing, and it's probably why I can't get this night out of my head."

Derek steered the SUV into a parking spot in front of the hospital. "You keep this to yourself. Not a word to anyone," he implored Emily again before opening the car door.

Emily nodded, but she held him back. "If this is going to affect you in such a lasting way, maybe you should just talk to this woman again. You have her number, right?"

Derek nodded, then immediately shook his head. "I'm supposed to forget about that night, those were ... her words," he said hesitantly. "She’s … she’s done with me."

Emily looked at Derek pityingly. Getting such a snub from a woman who had, after all, apparently made quite an impression on him was not something the charmer and ladies' man was used to. No wonder it was getting to him. "You have only two options: Either, you banish her from your mind immediately, because she's not worth wasting another thought on. Or ..."

"Or?"

"Or you might not be so easily dismissed and talk to her. Because maybe there's more to it than you want to admit."

If only it were that simple, Morgen thought to himself as he finally got out of the car. But the matter was considerably more tricky than the half-truth he had revealed to Emily. Yes, if he had woken up next to a woman, next to some casual acquaintance, he would certainly have taken Prentiss' advice to heart and implemented it - probably in the first variant. But he just couldn't and wouldn't put his colleague and best friend Reid out of his mind. And in love ... no, he could only repeat it again for himself: he wasn't into men, not even a little bit.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the new kudos.  
> This new chapter and also the following one are a bit more about the case.

"Prentiss, Morgan, good to have you back," Hotch greeted the two agents as they entered the briefing room of thepolice station. "What did you learn?"

The three sat down at the table and Emily began to report. They had had to wait at the hospital for over an hour until the victim, physics and chemistry teacher Ramondo Parentes, had woken up and the doctors had agreed to an interview. But unfortunately, this had not brought many new information. Parentes had surprised the perpetrator because the teacher's small dog had barked. While trying to get to safety in his bedroom and call the police, Parentes had been shot, but the shot to the upper body had missed all major organs and Parentes had managed to call 911. Realizing that he would not be able to get to his victim quickly enough and that police would likely arrive quickly, the unsub had fled.

"Parentes, unfortunately, was only able to give a vague description of our unsub," Morgan added. "He is certain that he is a male, not very tall and relatively slender. That would fit with our suspicion that the perpetrator might be a high school student. He could not make out the man's face. He had a hood over his head. Possibly also hiding his face behind a scarf. But Parentes is not sure about that at all. He suspects that it is a white man. But we can't rule out a perpetrator of Asian or mixed descent."

Hotch nodded. "That doesn't get us much further indeed."

"I'd like to try again later with a detailed cognitive interview if the doctors give the green light," Morgan noted. "Right now, they wanted us out of the hospital room as soon as possible."

"Good idea," Aaron Hotchner said. "Stay in touch with the hospital and get this started as soon as the doctors agree. The ballistics results have meanwhile come in, but they won't help us. The weapon, a .45 caliber revolver, is not registered anywhere and could not be linked to any other crime. Garcia is still trying to find commonalities between our victims, so far without much success. Rossi and Jareau are talking to the two suspect teachers right now. I'm not sure we're on the right track there, though. When I add Parentes' perp description into the equation, these two don't fit. They're both rather tall and stout."

Hotchner slid additions for the case files to his two agents. "This is the information from the two crime scenes that night. Maybe you guys will notice something else about them that we've missed so far."

As Morgan took his first look at the crime scene photos, Hotch interrupted him again, "Morgan, can you maybe check on Reid? He's been pretty rattled all morning. First he stared at his map for a good hour, and then he holed up in the office next door with boxes of student files. He didn't even grab coffee."

That comment made Derek sit up and take notice. Reid getting lost in files was nothing new. The fact that he forgot his beloved coffee - or rather the cup of sugar with coffee additive - showed that something was wrong. "He's been completely frustrated since yesterday because he feels like he's not contributing anything useful right now," Derek explained, hoping that was really it.

Hotch nodded. "Then get him out of there and take him to interview the students," the team leader ordered. "The first two are already waiting for us. And since Reid is still closest to them in age, he might get more out of them than one of us."

Derek stood up and left the briefing room heading toward the kitchen. If he was going to get Reid away from his files, it might be best to bring a cup of fresh coffee with him to do it. If he held it under his nose, he would at least look up from his reading for once. Besides, that gave him another two minutes to collect himself. Maybe confrontational therapy was the solution to his problem, too. Not, of course, by confronting Reid with his constantly circling thoughts about the boy. Rather by trying to return to some inner normalcy by not avoiding him any further.

When Derek opened the door to the office where Spencer was holed up with the files, he immediately realized that Hotch was right: Reid was really messed up. The desk and every other surface was covered with opened files. On the floor were umpteen stacks of files, all with sticky notes on them to classify them. On a flipchart, in Reid's spidery handwriting, were some difficult-to-decipher keywords, and on one blackboard Reid had housed a web of names and connecting lines that he alone could probably untangle. And in all this chaos, Spencer walked around, muttering to himself, tussling his hair and climbing over piles of files.

"Hey, pretty boy, what's gotten into you?" inquired Morgan, stopping in the doorway, extending his coffee cup in Reid's direction as a decoy.

"My approach is wrong, just wrong. And I don't see where I need to go. The geographic profile doesn't do anything. That's what I said. And those files: just paper. They don't help me either. I don't know anything more than Garcia already found out. And yet, there has to be a connection. There just has to be. Why can't I find it?" Reid babbled to himself, upset.

Carefully, Derek stepped over one of the piles of files toward Spencer and pressed the coffee cup into his hand. "Here, I think you're completely hypoglycemic."

Puzzled, Spencer looked up, only now really noticing his friend and colleague. "Oh, thanks," he murmured, and immediately took a big sip of the coffee. A small beatific expression crossed his face as the coffee trickled down his throat. Derek had to smile. Coffee just always helped with the boy.

"I thought you were mad at me," Spencer surprised Morgan with his next words.

"Why is that?" the latter asked back in surprise.

"I don't know exactly. I've been thinking about it, but I don't know what I've done to upset you. I thought you said you weren't angry with me about the day before yesterday..." the young genius murmured uncertainly, looking Morgan in the eye searchingly.

"You didn't upset me," Derek tried to reassure him, but Spencer immediately interjected: "You don't want to share the room with me anymore. You don't say something like that for no reason."

Derek groaned. "It has nothing to do with you," he explained, although his morning displeasure had everything to do with Reid. "I didn't sleep well and I took my anger out on you. I'm sorry for that. Of course, I have no problem sharing the room with you." And this time it wasn't just a half-truth, but an outright lie he was telling one of his colleagues, Derek chided himself. But he couldn't bring himself to come clean with Spencer at the moment, either.

"Really?" inquired Spencer, already looking somewhat relieved.

"Really," Derek confirmed. "Now let's get this case cleared up. Hotch wants us to go after the suspect students. Two of them are already waiting outside. And when we're through with that, you explain what you've been doing here. Maybe together we can find the right approach."


	12. Chapter 12

The entire team had the feeling of being at a dead end. The afternoon had turned into evening and there was still no trace of the culprit. Derek dropped into the chair next to Spencer with a sigh. Hotch had called the team together after the final interviews with the suspects Garcia had picked out.

"Where do we stand?" he inquired, even though he already knew they were no further along than they had been that morning. But it was more about getting everyone on the team on the same page than reporting any real successes - or failures.

Emily was the first to speak, briefly summarizing what they had learned at the hospital that morning. She had been there two hours ago for another cognitive interview with Ramondo Parentes. But this had not brought any new results, but only supported once again what the teacher had already put on record before.

It had been more exciting with Rossi and Hotch. The two suspected teachers had also appeared at the police station that afternoon, and the two profilers had dealt intensively with the two men. While Parentes' description of the unsub had not matched the two teachers, everyone on the team knew how unreliable such memories could be, especially when they arose from a traumatic situation.

"Marc Yuguhashi is an interesting fellow," Rossi explained. "He's been teaching biology at Atlanta High for a year and has actually been rather low-key there so far. However, I strongly anticipate that colleagues at the local police department will keep a close eye on him in the future." Rossi elaborated that the teacher was by no means a clean slate criminally. At 18, he had been arrested in connection with a child pornography ring. The inconspicuous Asian had gained the trust of twelve- to fifteen-year-old girls, had pretended to them the great love and then had made them undress in front of his camera. He had then sold the photos and, in some cases, films via a relevant website. "The way I see it, he only got off with a fairly lenient juvenile sentence because his father must have been playing golf regularly with the judge in charge," Rossi grumbled. "The record was sealed after his prison sentence and Yuguhashi moved here to Atlanta to study, where he went on to become a teacher. He certainly wouldn't have gotten the job if someone knew his record. At the very least, colleagues here locally will now be on alert should there be any similar incidents involving Atlanta High students. However, we have to rule him out as our murderer. Also very juicy: Yuguhashi was in a brothel between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. on the night of the first murders - quite tied up, as private video recordings show. He also voluntarily allowed himself to be filmed doing so."

"And you let someone like that teach kids today," Emily shook her head indignantly.

"We've also been able to rule out Frederick Hollander as the perpetrator," Hotch continued. "I can't say much about him personally, except to say that he's been in the witness protection program for five years. Therefore, there are no older records on him. He has been proven to have an alibi as well, because he was just on his way back from a convention that night about ..." Hotch flipped through his notes. "Well, about something to do with programming languages. Anyway, we checked the plane's passenger boarding list, and he was definitely on board." 

Spencer shook his head in disappointment. "So nothing again." His own conversation with one of the suspicious students had turned up nothing either. While the latter didn't really have a provable alibi - he'd supposedly been asleep, but Reid didn't rule out the possibility that he could have sneaked off at night - there was nothing about the boy that even remotely suggested he might have had a motive for the murders. He had been slightly unsettled about the questioning, a little nervous, but once he realized it was about the teacher murders, he calmed down. Spencer suspected he had been up to something else, not a serious crime, but something he could be prosecuted for. When he realized that there was a completely different reason for the interrogation, he had been calm about it again. Reid would, however, tip off the high school principal. Perhaps the latter would find out what the boy had been up to.

"I know you guys are as frustrated as I am right now, but don't look at this as a failure right now," Hotch tried to cheer up his team. "We were able to eliminate some suspects today, after all."

"But if this keeps up at this pace, half the faculty at Atlanta High will soon be dead," Reid grumbled. "We need to speed up, get more done!"

Hotch looked at him with a mixture of admonishment and understanding. "Completely exhausting ourselves now and spending the night poring over files isn't going to get us anywhere. We'll call it a day. A few hours of sleep can work wonders and really kick-start the brain." A clear dig in the direction of Spencer, who all too often spent nights at the office and completely ignored the fact that he, too, needed sleep.

Hotch stood up and demonstratively shut his laptop. Then he shooed his team out of the meeting room. He would take his own advice today and not work a night shift.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the new Kudos!  
> After two chapters that revolved primarily around the BAU's current case, I now return to Derek and Spencer with full focus and a longer chapter.  
> Attention: the rating has been changed from Mature to Explicit. Please pay attention to the tags.  
> And now have fun reading! :-)

Derek felt his pulse beat throughout his body. He was hot and his breathing was faster than usual. And he enjoyed it. He hadn't been this aroused in a long time. He let a soft moan slip over his lips as the touches to his groin became more insistent. Light, tentative kisses around the part of his body where he most desired the touch turned into more passionate kisses and little bites. And so unpredictable that he could never guess where the next touch would follow.

"Please!" he groaned out, without being specific about what he was asking for. Only it should be more.

He almost began to tremble as careful fingers ran along his hard cock. His hands clawed at the sheets beneath him, yet he would have preferred to sink his fingers into the brown hair that obscured his view of what was going on down there.

"Aah," he groaned as a tongue slid unexpectedly and gently over his tip. "Please, please, more!"

"What more?" a voice rang out from below, and Derek looked abruptly into Spencer's big eyes, which wandered back and forth between him and his cock.

"No!" cried Derek, as Spencer's mouth slowly lowered down to him ... and he fell out of bed for the second time in as many nights.

"Derek?" came Spencer's questioning voice from the bed above him, and Morgan had a feeling of déjà vu.

Once again he was lying on the floor wrapped in his sheet. And this time he was downright glad that he had taken the blanket with him, otherwise he would not have been spared an embarrassing moment when Reid looked down at him. The dream from which he had just been startled had left obvious traces on his body.

"I'm okay," Derek groaned as he sat up, trying to bunch up as much of the blanket over his lap as possible.

"Do you want to maybe sleep on the other side of the bed so you don't keep falling out?" asked Reid cluelessly. "I've been there. When I was a little kid traveling with my mom and sleeping in various hotels, I used to fall out of bed too if it wasn't facing the right way or I slept on the wrong side."

Groaning, Derek buried his face in his hands. The boy had no idea!

"Come on, I'll slide over," Reid tried helpfully and also immediately made himself comfortable on Derek's side of the bed. "It doesn't matter to me now. I've slept in so many other people's beds that I've thoroughly gotten out of the habit of falling out."

Reid's words didn't make it any easier for Morgan. Because instead of the innoent overnight stay in a hotel room during a conference or a case, scenes similar to the one he had just seen in his dream suddenly loomed in his mind's eye. Except that Reid was not indulging him, but various other men.

But it didn't help. If he didn't want to invent a new excuse for why he had now fallen out of bed for the second night in a row, he had to let Reid have the explanation the boy had come up with. Wrapping the blanket around himself, Morgan shuffled to the other side of the bed. But as soon as he lay down again, he had to realize that Reid's supposed solution made his problem even worse: the pillow he was now sinking into smelled distinctly of Reid. And that smell greatly furthered the problem under his covers.

Through clenched teeth, he groaned.

"Anything else?" barely a soft murmur from Spencer, who was already half asleep again.

"Just ... just my back," Derek lied. "It's fine. Just go back to sleep." And in doing so, he wished he could find his way back to sleep just as quickly.

But the dream and the arousal it caused were not something Derek could put behind him anytime soon. Normally, he would simply fix the problem "manually," but of course that was out of the question now. Nor did he manage to think of anything else. Rather, the dream kept pushing itself to the fore. Or was it perhaps not just a dream? Was it perhaps what had happened the night before last and what he could no longer remember?

The thought was scary and arousing at the same time. Scary because Derek was pretty sure he hadn't actually said no when Spencer tried to pleasure him with his mouth. And arousing for the same reason. Derek liked blow jobs, what man didn't? He loved it when a woman spoiled him like that, and most of the time it didn't even take more than that to make him cum. He also liked to give back what he got. The space between a woman's legs was something special, especially when he could drive her crazy with his tongue.

But that concerned women!

Okay, he couldn't deny that the image of Reid's lips hovering over him had excited him more than a little. But he couldn't imagine taking a man's cock in his mouth in return. He couldn't have done that, even with Reid.

Not knowing what had happened that night, and whether his dream was true, just wouldn't let Derek go back to sleep. He tried to lie as still as possible so as not to wake Reid up again. And at the same time he was mulling over a solution.

He just had to remember. Once he knew what had really happened, then maybe he would better understand what was bothering him now.

Derek tried to look at his situation like one of the BAU's cases. What would they do to tease important information out of a witness that the witness himself was not aware of? Cognitive interviewing would be the answer. Using the various senses to access what had disappeared from the foreground of memory. But Derek didn't want to confide in anyone, and he would have to do that if one of his colleagues were to do the questioning. Only Penelope might be an option, but she was far away and, moreover, was not familiar with the method. But maybe he should talk to his baby girl anyway. He had helped her through many a difficult situation and knew that she would be there for him in equal measure and would listen to everything he told her without prejudice. Not that that wasn't true of his other colleagues. But his baby girl was just special.

Derek pressed his head deeper into the pillow and breathed in and out slowly. Again he became aware of Reid's scent and his arousal reported back with a small twitch. But at the same time a thought flashed through his mind. How often did they use the sense of smell to get information buried in the memory of witnesses? Couldn't he get this directly through the scent surrounding him? He just had to be careful not to let his arousal get the best of him. Reid could never know what was going on next to him.

Derek tried to relax. With his eyes closed and his nose pressed into the pillow, he brought another sense to it. Derek liked touching others and being touched by them. And his dream told him that Reid had probably touched him just about everywhere. He had to get that feeling back. But he wanted to start in a different place than the dream had shown him. Slowly, Derek let a finger slide over his own lips. He was absolutely sure they had kissed. Derek had never had sex with anyone he hadn't kissed extensively.

A tingling sensation spread across his lips and Derek let it, concentrating on it and on the scent that surrounded him.

Oh yes! Reid's lips had been unspeakably soft. As soft as a woman's. A little hesitant, unsure, but interested. An image flashed through Derek's mind: Spencer gazing into his eyes from under long lashes before leaning over and pausing just millimeters in front of Derek's lips. And then Derek saw nothing. He had closed his eyes and moved to meet Reid's lips before he could pull back.

Derek's eyes snapped open. It was working. This was definitely not a dream, but a memory. And Reid might have initiated the first kiss, but it had been he himself who had then made sure it actually happened.

The fact that he himself had chosen - albeit drunkenly - to kiss Reid brought Derek's mind into renewed turmoil. Had he been the seducer after all?

That was all Derek could take in one night. He pulled the pillow from under his head and propelled it to the floor beside his bed.


	14. Chapter 14

The tension in the team was growing. The previous night had resulted in yet another victim. Although the pace of the series of murders had apparently been slowed down somewhat by the previous night's failure, each additional victim was one too many. There was one difference this time from the earlier murder victims, however: the teacher who had been shot had been retired for two years.

"That must mean it was an older student, one from the graduating classes," Reid mused aloud as he again sorted through the piles of files around him. With the past afternoon having faded into late evening relatively inconclusively, despite the lengthy conversations with the suspicious students, Morgan had made arrangements with Aaron for the new morning to work with Spencer on the files, as he had promised the latter. But for the moment, there was nothing he could do but sit among the stacks and wait for the boy wonder to throw him a cue he could do something with.

"Give me a task, Reid. Let me know what we're looking for and I'll help you," he demanded.

Spencer looked up. "I've been going through the files so far looking for any conspicuous features in the students and had sorted them accordingly," he said. He pointed to individual piles: 'Vandalism, disputes with teachers, bullying, violence against classmates, theft, possession of drugs, dealing on school grounds. And then all the stuff that happened outside of school but somehow found its way into the files. For example, there's a carjacking, prostitution, multiple shopliftings and a burglary."

Derek shook his head. "And I thought the school actually had a pretty good catchment area. No gangs in the area, most of the students middle or upper class."

"I don't understand that at all. Why don't these students just want to learn?" mused Reid. "Drug possession, okay, that can still be explained. With the right stimulants, you're more productive. And with marijuana, for example, you can tolerate stress better. Did you know that 19.8 percent of students in this country smoke pot regularly? And that almost one-fifth of all students have bought or sold drugs on school grounds? And then add to that the abuse of pharmaceuticals. That also affects eleven percent of all students. And let's not even talk about other drugs, especially alcohol. Just imagine: 13.5 percent of all students get drunk on a regular basis. Do they even know what they're doing to their bodies?" Reid had really talked himself into a frenzy.

"Hey, Spencer, calm down! Are you saying our unsub might be a drug addict?" inquired Morgan.

Spencer bristled and blinked rapidly. "Oh sorry, um ... no. Well ... I ... guess the horses got away with me again." He brushed back a strand that had fallen into his face, and scowled at the files. "How do you end up hustling when you're just 16 years old and you actually come from a good home?" he asked, lost in thought, as he eyed a file with a blue sticky note on it and then placed it in another pile.

Derek could understand the young genius' confusion. Spencer had grown up in a very different world. Education had been above everything. And what went on in school besides classes was something the child prodigy, who had already graduated from high school at the age of twelve, had probably neither noticed nor understood. And then, having been just as significantly younger in college than his fellow students, he had certainly been pretty much excluded from the community. Spencer didn't talk much about his childhood and adolescence, but from what little he did talk about - the bullying incident at school, for example - Derek could only conclude that he had also been considerably more comfortable with his books than with the young people who had surrounded him. After all, that was still true today, with a few exceptions.

"There are many reasons why students can go off the rails," Derek said in response to Reid's question. "It starts with the wrong friends. And parents, no matter how caring, often can't do anything about that. There are a lot of factors at play."

Reid just sighed and continued to stare at the files. "No matter what who did, I can't infer a perpetrator from all these offenses. I don't even know if our unsub has any kind of negative mark on his school record yet. Maybe he's never been noticed before. That would be unlikely, but not out of the question."

"Then let's take another approach," Derek encouraged him. "We're going to assume it's a student with a driver's license. Our last victim also leads us in the direction that the perpetrator is at least a junior, if not a senior. Otherwise, he wouldn't have run into the teacher again."

"That still leaves half the school. We need more criteria," Spencer mused. "And we probably really need to go back to the complete data set, consider all students, regardless of how positive or negative the entries are in their school records."

"Still, it would have to be a perpetrator who somehow has contact with shady people, otherwise how would he get an unregistered gun. And we can probably also assume that he didn't just start having access to firearms yesterday. You have to know how to handle a .45. Otherwise, you're more likely to break your thumb than fatally shoot someone," Derek concluded.

The profiler was already reaching for his cell phone to ask Garcia for help with the data search when a groan stopped him from hitting the speed dial button.

"Oh, no," Reid sighed beside him, his eyes widening. "I think our night with the whiskey cost me a lot of IQ points. Why didn't I think of that before?"

Derek winced, then stared at Spencer. "Of what?" he huffed as the latter circled in his thoughts but said nothing more.

"The connection to the perpetrator has to be through the teachers, right? I told you from the beginning that I didn't think the geographic location of the teachers' homes had any significance to our perpetrator. It certainly didn't. I assume he has a list of who he thinks is a sitting duck. We need to filter out the students who have connections to all the victims, whether they were in their classes - or even when - whether one of the teachers was assigned to them as a guidance counselor, as a volunteer project leader, or whether there were any other contacts. Even break supervision in certain areas of the school may be relevant."

Spencer had stepped up to the flip chart, pulled down the old sheet, and started feverishly jotting down all that he was rattling off. He connected all the bullet points with circles until it turned into a sort of quantity chart. "This," he shouted, jamming the thick felt-tip pen into the intersection, "is our unsub. This is our perpetrator."

"Great, might as well add the name," joked Derek, who was glad that Reid had found his way out of his frustration and was visibly getting closer to solving the case.

"What?" asked Reid, puzzled, looking at Morgan in confusion.

"That's all right, handsome. Give your IQ points a rest again," Derek grinned. "I'll put Garcia on it. I'm sure our computer oracle can help us run all these parameters as filters over the entire student body."


	15. Chapter 15

Reid seemed to be completely energized by the new approach and immediately immersed himself in a re-sorting of the files he had already read. Certainly the genius already had in mind which of the conspicuous students had closer contact with all the victims, or at least with some of them. Derek took the opportunity to sneak out of the room. He wanted to talk to Penelope on the phone, but not just for the data analysis they needed from her. The adjacent meeting room was unused at the moment, and besides, it was reasonably well soundproofed. Just the place, Morgan thought, locking the door behind him to remain undisturbed while he speed-dialed for Garcia.

"Hello, my chocolate cupcake. Tell me what I can do for you and I'll wave my wand right now. Oh, oh no, you have the wand. But I promise I'll have plenty of fairy dust left over for you," Penelope immediately launched into the conversation.

"Hi Penelope! How's my baby girl?"

"Without you? Terrible!" sighed Penelope playfully.

"Then help me out a little and I'll be back for you soon," Derek flirted back.

"Tell me, what can I do for you?" returned Garcia immediately, and Derek knew she was now completely in work mode.

At length, he explained Spencer's theory to her, and could hear Penelope's fingers immediately sweep across her keyboard with every word he said. "That's a whole lot of parameters to match there. It's going to take time. I can do some magic, but the miracles are usually performed by our boy wonder," she said when Derek had given her the assignment in full.

"I realize that. It would just be good if you had something for us before tonight. I'm afraid that until we catch the unsub, we're going to find the body of another teacher every morning," Morgan said. Having an approach just wasn't enough at the moment. They needed something tangible as soon as possible.

"I'll see what I can do," Garcia murmured. "I'll be in touch as soon as I can provide you with anything." With that, she was about to end the conversation before Derek stopped her. "My girl, even though we're in a hurry: Do you have a few minutes left for me?" he inquired cautiously.

"Always for you, chocolate bun," Garcia returned immediately. She could already tell by his voice that he had something on his mind. "What do you want to talk to me about?"

Derek dropped into one of the chairs with a sigh. He knew the whole story had to come out somehow, and Garcia was the right person to get it all off his chest. Still, he found it unspeakably difficult to find the right words.

"Have you ever slept with the completely wrong person?" he tried, slowly turning the spin toward his subject.

"Totally wrong? So you mean someone totally gross or someone I don't actually like or even a criminal?" Garcia sounded plenty confused, which again didn't surprise Morgan now. "No, not that wrong. Wrong in the sense of unthinkable, that should never have happened," he corrected. He could almost hear the cogs in Penelope's brain turning like crazy on the other end of the line.

"I don't think so. But then I guess the question is, did that just happen to you ... and with whom?" she returned seconds later.

"It did. And now I don't know where my head is. I know next to nothing at all."

"Derek, you're confusing me," Penelope now stated flatly. "Why don't you know what? Don't you want to tell me the whole story from the beginning?"

Morgan nodded slowly before reminding himself that Penelope couldn't see it. "Yeah, yeah, that's why I wanted to talk to you. I need someone to listen to me. You remember our club night two days ago? I ... I didn't come home after that."

Derek let the sentence hang in the air, pondering how he should now relate the rest of what he himself knew only fractions of.

"Didn't come home?" echoed Penelope. "But I thought Reid drove you home."

"Yeah,... sort of. … Just not home to me," Derek returned hesitantly.

"Oh ... Ooh!" Derek could vividly imagine his friend's eyes widening at this exclamation as it dawned on her what he had just confessed to her. "Are you saying ... are you saying that you ... you and Reid ...? Oh my God!" Her excited squeal seemed to Derek like a mixture of surprise, horror and jubilation.

"Yeah, I think so."

"What do you mean you think? Did you or didn't you?", Garcia now wanted to know exactly.

"Do you remember when you had that fight with Kevin and saw me coming out of your shower in the morning? Just like you did then, that's how I feel right now," Derek explained. "With the difference that I know Reid and I shared a bed and definitely without any clothes on. The rest ... well ... extremely hazy."

"And what does our boy wonder have to say about that?", Garcia immediately got to the point that pained Derek a bit.

"I snuck out in the morning. I was so confused. And when I talked to him later, he said it would be best if we just forgot about that night. And that was it for him, just checked off."

Garcia could tell immediately from Derek's voice how much that bothered him.

"It's not like I ever wanted this," Morgan continued, feeling less inhibited now that most of it was out. "I don't know at all what drove me to get in the sack with Reid. I'm not into men. Everybody who knows me knows that. But then ... then to be dumped like that ... I wouldn't have put it past Reid. He acts as if nothing happened at all. How can he put that out of his mind like that when it's bothering me so much?"

"Oh Derek," Penelope sighed on the other end of the line. "I wish I could hug you right now. And I wish I had some answers for you. But really, all I have are questions. Questions you need to work out with yourself and, ultimately, with Spencer."

"What do you mean?" asked Derek quietly.

"Spencer and you, you've been such close friends for years. You're there for each other, protective of each other, sticking up for each other. Couldn't it be that you've developed feelings for him that go beyond friendship?" asked Penelope cautiously.

Derek shook his head again before audibly answering. "Don't be silly, my girl. Yes, I love Reid, but like a brother. He's the little brother I never had. But I'm not in love with him ... and certainly not lusting after him." Liar!", Derek's inner voice immediately intervened at that moment. And then why does it excite you when you see him naked or even just breathe in his scent?

"But you're sure there was something between you?" inquired Garcia now somewhat doubtfully.

"Yes," Derek just sighed.

"Well, if you didn't misfire then, which I really can't imagine you did, then maybe you do need to ask yourself if there are any men who are interesting to you. Have you ever tried that?" inquired Garcia, and then immediately interjected, "Oh no, stop, I don't want to know that. Just think about it. Look at some pretty pictures, some porn for all I care, and see what resonates with you. And ... and as for Spencer and his behavior: Well, I've suspected for some time that he's not just into women. There are some revealing books on his shelf. Now, I haven't read them, but the titles. Look up pansexuality. I think that's what might describe the boy. As for the rest: well, if someone was sneaking out of my bed, I'd also be looking for a way out of the situation that didn't show that it might have hurt me. Possibly this apparent callousness is nothing more than a shield? But as I said, those would be questions you'd have to take up with Spencer."

"That's what Prentiss also advised me to do," Derek muttered.

"What?" it sounded shrilly in his ear in response. "You told Emily about this before you talked to me?"

Shit! He must have jumped into a huge fetlock with both feet there. "Hold on, my girl, no, it wasn't quite like that," he tried to placate Penelope. And he enlightened his friend about what half-truths he had been telling Prentiss. "All of this, please, this has to stay between us," he implored Garcia in the end.

"On one condition," the computer ace returned. "You keep me in the loop. And, if you need someone to talk to, you call me right away."

"I will, my girl, I certainly will," Derek promised before hanging up.


	16. Chapter 16

"We have a profile of the unsub," Aaron Hotchner told the assembled Atlanta Police Department team late this afternoon, "but because of the unique situation and the huge public interest, it's important to us that we keep it under wraps as long as possible. The potential behavior of the perpetrator if he feels cornered is still difficult for us to assess. We absolutely want to prevent him from trying to kill as many teachers as possible, as quickly as possible, in some kind of final blow."

Hotch looked seriously around the room, then nodded to Reid, who was to present the initial findings.

"Our perpetrator is male, light-skinned, approximately between 5'7" and 5'7" tall, and between 16 and 20 years old. We believe he is an Atlanta High School student who may not have been conspicuous at all until now. He feels he has been treated unfairly, perhaps oppressed or bullied by a number of teachers. He probably has a rather small circle of friends, has nowhere to vent his frustrations about teacher treatment, and feels that he alone has such problems with the teaching staff. He therefore also marginalizes himself, unconsciously ensuring that he will not encounter anyone who has had similar experiences."

"Interviewing the principal and teachers revealed that our unsub’s feelings are probably extremely subjective. The teachers could not name any students who have had major problems with all the teachers killed so far," Rossi continued. "Nor is there any student at the school at this time that the faculty would have agreed was an intolerable troublemaker or even a danger to the teachers and students. To that extent, a lot of the negative relationships between the teachers and the perpetrator probably play out exclusively in the perpetrator's mind."

Now Morgan took the floor, "Our perpetrator used an unregistered .45 revolver for the murders. On the one hand, this shows us that he must have contacts to obtain such a weapon, but on the other hand, it also shows us that he has probably been handling weapons for some time. A .45 caliber is usually not the choice of a perpetrator who has never shot before, let alone that such a person could then also hit so unerringly with it. So we're looking for a boy whose parents or other relatives are likely to own guns or who is probably to be registered at a gun club or range."

"Our technical analyst, Penelope Garcia, is currently working to filter out from all the student files those who fit our perpetrator profile," J.J. joined in. "We anticipate that we will be able to convene initial suspects for questioning this evening. Since we are dealing with a narrow possible perpetrator group and, as I said, we must prevent a possible killing spree at all costs, it is important that all these people are summoned as witnesses without fail, but not as suspects. The perpetrator must not get the idea that we are already close on his trail."

"Why are you so sure that the perpetrator is a male student?" inquired one of the police officers present. "On the one hand, this is suggested by the description of the unsub by Ramondo Parentes, that is the victim who survived the shooting. He was sure that it was a man. On the other hand, we were already able to rule out without a doubt all the teachers at the school who would have had a motive as the perpetrator," Morgan answered the question.

"And isn't it possible that the unsub came from outside the school?" another inquired. "That's highly unlikely," Prentiss returned. The teachers who were killed live in different parts of town, have different circles of friends and acquaintances, and overall have little beyond the school to connect them all. With two or three victims, a perpetrator outside the school would still be within the realm of possibility, but with now a total of six, it's more than unrealistic."

"We thank you for your attention. Once we have identified the new group of suspects by name based on the profile, we will also try to identify the next potential victims based on that. Your assistance will then be needed to provide police protection to these individuals," Hotch concluded.

With that, he turned to his team. "Well done, we are now a huge step ahead with this," he declared, nodding to Spencer in particular, who he knew needed this confirmation more than anyone else.

"Why do I still feel like I'm overlooking something?" half-mumbled Spencer to himself.

"What are you thinking about?" inquired Derek, who was standing next to him.

"Something still doesn't fit, but I just can't figure it out," Spencer replied, looking at him thoughtfully.

Derek furrowed his brow. He could see that Reid was still not satisfied with his analysis so far. The inner turmoil that wanted to drive him to do it all over again, to check a second, third, fourth time if his conclusions were correct, was clearly visible in his face. Derek could read the boy like an open book. How could it be there that Reid would have hidden faces that he, Derek, didn't know? With every second Derek looked into Reid's eyes, Garcia's self-protection theory made more sense, especially significantly more than the idea that for Reid, meaningless one-night stands were such a regular occurrence that he could simply erase them from his memory, even when he had slept with a friend and colleague.

Air movement and flailing hands in front of his nose suddenly snapped Derek out of his thoughts. "Is everything okay, Morgan?" inquired Spencer, looking at him questioningly. "Has a thought occurred to you?"

Oh yes, Derek wanted to reply, but he stifled himself. Before he could talk to Spencer, he'd have to sort out some of the other questions Garcia had thrown at him. And he really needed to find out what else had happened that night first.

"Sorry, everything's okay. I was just musing if there was anything I could think of where you might be wrong," Derek tried to deflect. "But what can I say? I can't think of anything. You're our genius after all." He grinned and patted Spencer on the shoulder before leaving him to check in with Garcia to see if she might have already found a new suspect or two.

"Don't you think Morgan's acting weird right now?" muttered Reid as Emily stepped up beside him. Together they watched Derek disappear into the briefing room. "I think he's got a little problem with his love life," it escaped Emily before she could stop herself.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the latest kudos.  
> Here comes the next chapter, a slightly longer one, which is now not only about the case, but also focuses more on Spencer and Derek again.  
> Derek is more intent than ever to finally find out what really happened that night between him and Spencer. But the way there is not so easy.

Ten new suspects and Garcia was not yet finished with her analysis. "Do you know what you're asking me to do," she had whined in Derek's ear when he had picked up the interim status from her and subsequently received at least a couple of files by e-mail. "It's like finding straws in a haystack that are all supposed to be the same color, length and thickness. And preferably should smell the same, too," Penelope lamented. "And the haystack is huge! You'll forgive me if it takes me a few hours. My poor fingers are already sore from all the typing." Derek had talked her down soothingly until she was back to a level to get through at least another hour or two at the computer before leaving her computer cave for a few hours of sleep. They were already able to work quite well with the interim status.

But a few hours later, it became apparent that the team was reaching its limits. The teenagers could not be called to the station as witnesses in the middle of the night. The father of the last boy, whom Rossi and Hotch wanted to interview at home shortly after 8 p.m., had more or less slammed the door in their faces and announced that he would immediately call in his lawyer. Suspicious, but from the parents' point of view also understandable when the FBI suddenly showed up at the door in the evening.

That's why Aaron had declared the day over after all. A small consolation: Spencer and J.J. had worked out some teachers as possible new victims on the basis of the school files of the potential perpetrators. Police teams had immediately been quartered at these to ensure their protection during the night. With any luck, the unsub would try to kill one of these teachers and might even be caught by the police officers doing so.

Returning to the hotel that evening, Morgan faced tension in more ways than one. He still feared reacting to Reid's proximity next to him in bed again. On the other hand, he was eager to continue last night's experiment. Maybe he could use it to evoke more memories of the night with Spencer. Because one thing was clear to him by now, as long as he didn't know exactly what had happened, he probably wouldn't find any peace either.

The only question was how he could make sure Reid didn't find out about any of this. How embarrassing would it be if the boy woke up in the night and surprised him by supposedly pleasuring himself just feet away from him?

"Hey Reid, how about a nightcap today?" inquired Derek casually as he got out of the SUV with Spencer in front of the hotel, following Rossi and Hotch, who had arrived just seconds before them. "My head is all right again, and we should toast our breakthrough."

Secretly, he hoped to inject Reid with just enough alcohol to keep him sleeping as sound as a rock all night.

"Did I just hear something about a nightcap," interjected Jennifer, who had just arrived at the hotel with Emily. "I'd be there today, too. My men are at an overnight party. Consequently, I'm relieved of any obligation for phone calls and bedtime storytelling."

"I don't know," Reid muttered. "I think it's premature to toast the case now, before we've caught the unsub."

"Hey, pretty boy, don't take it so hard," Derek said as he put his arm over his shoulder in a chummy manner. "We're getting somewhere, and we might as well reward ourselves for our efforts today. Besides, it would be half the fun if you weren't there. Who else was going to tell me how much mineral water I should take with each sip of alcohol so I wouldn't have another hangover tomorrow?"

"Like that worked so well last time," Emily giggled. "But you're right: Spencer, you just have to come. Even if it's just so we ladies aren't alone at the table once Morgan starts flirting with the other female hotel guests."

Now was this a dig from Emily in reference to the one night stand he had told her about? Or her request to put it behind him and distract himself with a new flirtation? Derek didn't know. But it didn't matter, he had another plan he wanted to pursue. And if Emily unconsciously played into his cards with her words, it could only be fine with him.

So it happened that the four of them found themselves in the hotel bar only half an hour later. Hotch had declined the invitation to join them, as he often did. And Rossi had surprisingly explained that he had a date at a nearby jazz bar.

"Ladies night, how appropriate," Emily exclaimed as she read a sign at the bar's entrance. "Half-price cocktails and live music to dance to, just what I need right now."

"I think I'm in the wrong place after all," Spencer declared hesitantly, ducking his head and immediately trying to make his way back. But Emily and J.J. were hooking up with him right and left, making it impossible for him to escape.

"Don't worry about the ladies, Reid!" laughed Morgan. "If push comes to shove, pretty boy, I'm going to take them all off your hands. After all, we know the young gals dig your pretty face and will not only throw themselves at your feet, but even at you. But I'll defend your virginity no matter what."

Spencer blushed, something Derek had deliberately provoked. Slowly, it seemed, he did find himself back to his old self and his usual way of dealing with Reid. And he just couldn't help teasing Reid sometimes about his somewhat awkward ways. It had also been too funny in retrospect that the young actress Lila Archer had tried to seduce the completely unsuspecting Spencer - and had unceremoniously dumped him, clothes and revolver and all, into her pool. Derek still pondered today whether Reid, then just 24 years old, had probably received his first kiss from Lila. If so, then the boy must have gained quite a bit of experience in the past few years, since he, in turn, had now succeeded in seducing Derek.

More or less reluctantly, Spencer let his two colleagues pull him to one of the bar tables that were grouped around a small dance floor today. In a corner next to the counter, a three-piece combo had been accommodated, playing chill lounge music for the moment. Derek really hoped that there would be some more upbeat. Otherwise, he'd tire out here at the table before he could get the alcohol he needed into Reid.

Emily unconsciously accommodated him a bit in this regard again. No sooner had they declared the table theirs than she whizzed off toward the bar, returning a few minutes later with four shots and four glasses of gin and tonic - "to warm up and enjoy," she explained.

Reid eyed the glasses suspiciously, and Derek could guess exactly where his mind was wandering. "You can handle that little bit," he murmured to Reid, coaxing him to drink. "And your bed isn't far. I'll make sure you end up safe in it."

Own goal, it flashed through Derek's mind next as he promptly saw before his eyes the image of Reid's fuzzy head as he had woken up next to him after their night together. And right along with the image came the memory of the exciting dream, which promptly caused a noticeable lack of room in Derek's pants. How fortunate that the bar was not particularly brightly lit.

Two glasses of gin and tonic later, Derek didn't have to worry about getting Spencer drunk. The boy had taken care of that all by himself after the first bit of alcohol, and the girls had pushed him along. Gradually, Derek could also figure out how he and Reid had gotten so close: Spencer was shedding more of his usual germ-phobia with each sip of alcohol and was clearly getting close. Emily, who was facing Reid, found it immensely amusing in the process that he alternately latched onto J.J. and Derek.

Morgan had already tried twice to get Spencer to end the evening at the bar now. But both the girls and Spencer himself objected vehemently.

"Just a little bit more," Spencer crooned in his ear as Derek again suggested that he take to the bed now after all. "It's so funny right now." But Derek felt quite differently when he noticed Reid's hand had come off his shoulder and was slowly sliding down his back toward his butt with every word and giggle. "Spencer, that's enough," he tried to make it clear to the boy in one sentence that both the drinking and the wandering of his hand should come to an end. But Spencer clearly didn't understand at least the latter, because suddenly Derek felt the latter's finger not at his back or waistband, but clearly at the base of his butt - inside his pants. "I ... I have to go out!" groaned Derek, making a hasty dash toward the restroom. What had he gotten himself into?


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am very happy that my story is so well received by you.
> 
> Here comes the next chapter, my longest so far. Derek has a really stupid plan. And he will soon regret it. But through what he comes up with, he also gets a first impression of what's really going on inside Spencer.
> 
> My plan for this weekend is that there might be the next chapter already tonight and certainly another one tomorrow. I'm happy about all further comments, of course.

Derek had rarely been so relieved to find an empty restroom. Taking a deep breath, he stood at the sink, splashed cold water on his face, and then stared at himself in the mirror. He didn't have to look down at himself to know that the arousal that Spencer's touch, however brief, had evoked in him was visible there. What the hell was wrong with him all of a sudden? How many naked men had he seen in various locker rooms without ever getting turned on by one in any way? And now Reid's fingertips were enough to make him feel like he was about to cum in plain sight.

Distraction, he desperately needed distraction. The right kind. Distractions that drove away these nonsensical thoughts and feelings. It was ladies night, for crying out loud. And when he cast his line, more than one woman usually stuck to it. Two nice breasts, a tight ass, a no strings attached pleasure, it should be possible to find that out there. And by the time he got back to his hotel room an hour or two later, his dick certainly wouldn't have the strength to stir again, no matter how good Reid smelled next to him.

Derek pushed himself off the sink and made his way firmly back to the bar. He quickly banished his guilty conscience about leaving it up to Emily and Jennifer to get Reid into his bed to the far corner of his brain.

Derek put on his brightest smile as he walked toward the small dance floor. It was fitting: the music had picked up speed, the beat was jaunty, and at the same time there was something inviting and seductive about it. Ideal for getting closer to one of the women on the dance floor. And there was more than one who fit well into Derek's booty pattern.

Derek sidled confidently and with - as he was well aware - sexy movements into the middle of the small dance floor. A quick glance at the little table at the edge showed him that his colleagues were still there and had also noticed that he was dancing here. He deliberately turned his back on them. Which brought him right in front of a pretty little blonde who was looking at him with a perky twinkle in her eye. Might fit, Derek thought to himself, and grinned back flirtatiously. Two songs later, Laura had already told him her name, explained that she was in town for three days for a conference for dentists, and that her unattached life gave her so much freedom. If that wasn't a clear invitation?

Derek's hands, which by now had found a way to her waist just as hers had found a way to his shoulders, slowly moved a little lower and back. Only briefly did it occur to him that he had the same goal as Spencer had with him just a few minutes ago. But the little blonde had a mind of her own - and apparently for her it wasn't going fast enough. Instead of waiting for Derek to make the next move, she turned in his arms and pressed her backside against him in rhythmic movements that matched the beat. His right hand she guided to her hip, while she pressed his left just below her breast.

"Impatient?" growled Derek in her ear. She nodded slightly and tried to press herself even closer to him. Derek leaned down to her and ran his lips over her neck. But while she was sighing comfortably, he made a mistake: He glanced over to the table of his colleagues. He hadn't really expected to see anyone still standing there. But while Emily and Jennifer seemed to be talking animatedly, Reid stared over at him with eyes the size of dinner plates. When their eyes met, Spencer closed his eyes for a brief moment, then turned with a jerk and stumbled from the table toward the exit.

"Damn it!" it escaped Derek. Without really thinking about what he was doing, he left the blonde on the dance floor and tried to run after Reid. "Derek, what's going on?" asked Emily in amazement as Morgan nearly ran her over. Spencer's sudden departure had surprised her too which is why she was about to follow him herself.

"I'll...I'll take care of him," Derek groaned curtly, then quickly left the bar. Emily stared after him thoughtfully.

"Spencer?" called Derek from the lobby, hoping to catch up with the boy before he disappeared upstairs. But to no avail. Reid was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Rossi was just coming through the door. "Well, Morgan, have you finished your evening at the bar yet?" the older profiler inquired. "I was kind of hoping I could still join you."

"Emily and J.J. are still inside," Derek replied curtly. "I really need to check on Reid. I think he's had too much to drink."

Rossi raised his eyebrows. "When did that boy start drinking that excessive amount of alcohol? That's not usually his style."

Somewhat embarrassed, Morgan looked to the floor. "That could be my fault," he admitted honestly. "I guess I talked him into it a little. That's why I'm going to go see how he's doing right now."

"You do that," Rossi nodded at him. "And just to be on the safe side, go ahead and find the pain pills in his bag. He'll probably need them himself tomorrow," he then alluded to Morgan's hangover two days ago before turning toward the bar to keep J.J. and Emily some company there.

Morgan turned toward the elevator and pressed the button, pressed it again two seconds later, and then, after no signal that the elevator was moving in his direction, sprinted toward the stairs. He had no idea what was going on with Reid or why it was so important to get to him quickly now. All he knew was that that look, which had contained a mixture of fear, pain, and disappointment, had so captivated him that a night with the blonde was out of the question. And again, he had to tell himself that he had brought this on himself with his ill-fated idea of getting Spencer drunk.

"Spencer?" asked Derek as he opened the door to their shared room. Only at that moment did it occur to him that the boy might not have gone upstairs at all, but could have slipped away somewhere else or even left the hotel. But a quick glance around the room brought relief: Spencer was lying on the bed, still in all his clothes including his ubiquitous Converse and curled up as small as his entire length would allow.

Quietly, Derek closed the door. "Hey, Spencer! You can't sleep like that," he said in a soft voice. Without seeing the boy's face, he couldn't gauge what was going on inside him right now. Slowly, he walked toward the bed, but Reid didn't respond to him at all.

"Spencer?" Derek crouched down at head height in front of the bed, trying to see between Spencer's arms and the tangled hair hanging around his head if the boy had even noticed him. Gently, he touched his shoulder. "Come on, this isn't comfortable. You can sleep much better in your pajamas, and under the covers is better than on top, too."

A soft sniffle and a slight tremor showed Derek that Spencer hadn't just fallen asleep. "I'm going to take your shoes off for now, okay?", Morgan tried again. He received no response. Still, he made his way to the end of the bed, slowly unlaced his shoes, and carefully pulled them off Spencer's feet. He couldn't help but smile a little when he saw that the boy was once again wearing two completely different socks: one dark blue with little white anchors on it, the other black and red ringed.

"There, now up so you can get out of those clothes," Derek prompted Spencer. "Where are your pajamas?" He saw the travel bag next to the only chair in the room and opened it. A typical habit of all team members: what wasn't needed was packed away again immediately, so that in case of emergency it was possible to leave within a few minutes. Derek therefore did not have to search long. Right on top lay Spencer's pajamas, just as bizarre as his socks: Were they little images of the USS Enterprise spread among many stars?

"Hey, you're still lying down," Derek said as he turned back to Spencer. The boy didn't move a bit. Derek grabbed his wrist, shook it a little, and then pulled the somewhat reluctant Spencer into an upright position so he was sitting on the edge of the bed. Morgan loosened his tie knot and pulled the accessory over his head before pressing the pajamas into his hands. Spencer just stared down at them as Derek turned away and declared, "I'm going to take a quick shower." That should give the boy enough time to change without being disturbed. Derek grabbed his shirt and shorts for the night and closed the bathroom door behind him.

It felt like déjà vu when he stood in front of a mirror again and stared at himself in it. Did everything have to get out of hand now? He was just making one mistake after another and didn't even see the chaos he was causing beforehand. What had gotten into him when he had the idea of getting Spencer drunk? After all, he should have figured that Spencer might react similarly to how he had three nights ago. Probably the boy had been so touchy-feely then, too, stimulated by the alcohol, and he, Derek, had been so lulled by the whiskey that he didn't care who he slept with. He admitted it bluntly: He liked sex. The good feeling of being desired and desiring a partner - there was nothing wrong with that, as long as they were both clear about where they stood. Perhaps, drunk as he was, he hadn't even realized that he had ended up in a man's arms instead of a woman's? Unlikely. But at least it hadn't bothered his drunken self. What did that say about him?

Derek shook his head. At the moment, there were other things to consider than whether he might not be quite as straight as he'd always thought of himself. Spencer's reaction to him trying to hook up with a woman for a casual hookup suggested that Penelope was right in her suspicions. Was this "let's just forget about that night" perhaps really all for show on Reid's part? Why else would he have had that hurt look in his eyes? And the sudden flight from the bar? That spoke volumes, too.

Derek stepped into the shower and tried to relax a bit under the pleasantly warm stream of water. When Reid sobered up, he really needed to talk to him again. As hard as it was, he would come clean regarding his blackout and clarify what was between them now. One thing was for sure, Reid could be more rational than anyone. He would understand what had happened, and Derek would be able to make him understand that there was a solid, indelible friendship between them - but nothing more. And Reid would understand that and get over his little tangles of emotion.


	19. Chapter 19

When Derek stepped back into the room a few minutes later, he couldn't believe his eyes. He had expected Spencer to be curled up under the covers, fast asleep. But instead, the boy was still huddled on the edge of the bed.

I'm not spared anything here, Derek thought as he walked over to Spencer. He still had his head down, but Derek could see that he was staring blankly ahead.

"Come on, Spencer, let me help you," Derek murmured softly. He crouched down in front of the boy, took the pajamas from his hands, and began unbuttoning his shirt. Reid just let it all wash over him. Derek slid the shirt off his shoulders and then relieved him of the undershirt underneath as well before pulling the top of the pajamas over him. Under his hands, Reid behaved like a little doll whose limbs could be moved at will. Satisfied with the top half, Derek hesitated a moment before reaching for Reid's waistband. But then he told himself he couldn't just let the boy sleep in the clothes that would be needed again the next morning, and unceremoniously freed him from the pants. Getting Reid into the pajama pants, however, presented an insurmountable obstacle. Therefore, he finally just shoved the boy under the covers in his boxers.

Before Derek went over to his side of the bed, he still remembered Rossi's words. Therefore, he quickly searched for Reid's messenger bag and immediately found the pain pills in it, which he then placed on Reid's nightstand along with a glass of water.

When Derek finally lay on his side of the bed, he turned over to Spencer for the first time since he shared the room with him. "Close your eyes. You've got to get some sleep. I'm sure you'll feel better tomorrow," he explained quietly when he saw Spencer staring unblinkingly at the ceiling. Spencer didn't move.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? Are you nauseous?" inquired Derek hesitantly, lightly touching Reid's shoulder to get his attention. But it took what felt like an eternity for a sniffle to sound, followed by a slight tremor that ran over Reid's entire body. "I ... I'm always alone," the boy murmured, and the words sounded as empty as his gaze still looked blank.

"That ... that's not true at all, Spencer," Derek returned quietly. "You have your mother, you have J.J. who loves you like a sister, you have our whole team by your side. And you have me. I promise you, I'll never leave you alone. You're the best thing in my life after all." And Derek was sure those last words were absolutely true.

"My father left me, Gideon left, Maeve was taken from me. They all go away eventually." That Spencer meant to say that Derek, too, would eventually be gone hung unspoken between them.

Derek didn't quite know what to say in response. Eternity, he couldn't promise that. After all, they both knew all too well the dangers of their job and how quickly one of them could get killed.

"Come here!" he therefore demanded. And when Reid didn't budge, he slid to the middle of the bed and pulled Spencer into his arms. "As long as it's in my hands, I'll always be here for you."

Spencer tried to squirm out of his arms, but Derek wouldn't let him. "I won't let you go," he murmured as he finally had Reid's back pressed against his chest and one of his arms wrapped tightly around Spencer’s. "I'm here now, I'll be here tomorrow, and any other day you want me near you. Now go to sleep. You're not alone today and you won't be tomorrow."


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More than 100 Kudos! I didn't expect that and I'm very happy that you like the story. Your encouragement fires my imagination immensely. Not only am I already working on the counterpart to this story, but I already have the plot for a third story in mind. Now I just need my fingers to type as fast as the ideas unfold in my head ;-)
> 
> Here comes what I'm sure some of you have been waiting for: The review of what happened between Derek and Spencer on said night.
> 
> Please note the rating of this story. If you don't want to read detailed sex scenes, you should skip this chapter.

When Derek felt Reid's tension ease after a few minutes, his grip on the boy also relaxed a bit. But he continued to hold him with his arm.

Derek didn't want to think about tomorrow, so he buried his face in the fuzzy head in front of him and sucked in the comfortingly familiar scent of Spencer. He closed his eyes and tried to follow his own advice and fall asleep. But Reid's proximity did not allow that. Much more, it suddenly forced the feeling of their first kiss back into Derek's mind. And this time Derek allowed the movie playing in his mind's eye to roll on.

Reid had tasted sweet and seductive, a little also of the whiskey they had drunk earlier. And after initial innocent kisses on the lips, Derek had chased that taste, running his tongue between Reid's lips. Derek could now clearly remember the soft sighing of the boy who had willingly given in to him. For quite some time, the kisses had continued, even as they grew more heated. Spencer had become more forward than Derek would have expected. His hands began to wander: First over Derek's arms, his neck, and his back, but then down to his butt and thighs. And Derek had followed suit. Until, finally, Reid's hand between his legs brought him to a completely different thought. "Do you want me?" murmured Reid in his ear. "I ... I can make you feel really good." The seductive words were followed by a giggle that really shouldn't have been in keeping with the heated mood - and yet was so appropriate for Reid. "You can have me. Any way you want." Derek groaned loudly at the tempting offer.

And his moan, echoing through the hotel room, transported him back to the present. Undisturbed by the sound, Reid slept soundly on in his arms, and Morgan could only hope it stayed that way. With his lap dangerously close to Reid's butt, he moved off a bit. It was enough that he could feel his arousal; he had no intention of jumping a sleeping friend.

Then he closed his eyes again and tried to recall the scene he had just remembered.

Derek had grabbed Reid's hand - and instead of pulling it away from him, had pressed it more firmly down on his cock, which was still hidden in his pants. "A dangerous proposition you're making," he'd growled. "Do you really feel up to all this?" And he clearly hadn't just meant the situation in general.

"I'll take whatever you give me," it came back unexpectedly briskly from Reid.

"Could it be that someone has been hiding a pretty dirty mouth from me? Maybe we should check out what else you can do with it besides talk big." Reid's words fired Derek up immensely. Now the boy should follow up with action.

"Take off your shirt!" demanded Reid promptly. And even as Morgan complied, he felt the boy's lips slide up his torso from below and then linger unerringly on one of his nipples. Reid kissed it and licked playfully over it until Morgan reached into his hair and pulled his head back. "Is that all you have to give me?" he let out a feigned growl. But Reid reached for Morgan's hand, pulled it out of his hair, and pressed it into the sofa cushion beside him. "Oh, but I do! Hold on!" And that was the only warning Derek got before Reid turned to the other nipple and bit him there. Morgan groaned, the small pain only fueling his arousal further. "Bad boy," he brought out between clenched teeth as Reid now alternated between working his nipples with lips, teeth and fingers, always keeping him on the fine line between pleasure and pain. "Who the fuck taught you that?"

He received a soft giggle in response. "I can do more, I'm a genius. Hasn't anyone ever told you that?"

"Show me," Derek demanded.

"Not here," Spencer returned, easing off Derek's chest. Swaying a bit, he got up from the couch and chuckled again when he realized he was having slight balance problems. He pulled his shirt over his head without unbuttoning it first - how did the boy get out of the tight-fitting fabric so quickly? - and then lured Derek, who was staring at him, with a finger. "You want more now?"

Derek stood up slowly, not wanting to show that the alcohol was affecting him as much as Reid, and thoughtfully took a step toward him. But the boy had probably only been waiting for that, because he immediately made a move on his belt and then his pants.

From that moment on, the only thing that mattered to both of them was to get rid of the disturbing clothing as quickly as possible. The shoes were left right next to the couch. Derek's pants landed in the middle of the room and Spencer insisted on stripping his socks off immediately as well. "I'm going to spoil you all over," he sighed as, kneeling in front of Derek, he slipped a sock off his foot - all the while staring transfixed at the bulge in Derek's underpants. Derek grabbed the back of a chair behind him to keep his balance. And it wasn't just the alcohol and the fact that he was standing on one leg that was to blame for his balancing difficulties.

With his skintight jeans, Reid then got a hand on them himself when he noticed that Derek just kept stroking his butt instead of just getting rid of the layer of fabric. It finally landed with Reid's colorful socks just outside the bedroom door.

Heated and giggling at the same time, Reid pulled Derek's head toward him when they finally stood in front of the bed. "I have ..." he murmured between teasing little kisses where Derek tried in vain to keep his lips captive, "... I have a plan. ... I'm so ... so ready for you. ... You know I'm a ... a genius. ... IQ of 187, I'm pre ... prepared, ... always prepared."

"Less talk, more do," Derek growled impatiently, pulling Reid close so he could finally kiss him again the way he wanted. But Reid braced himself and the unexpected resistance caused Derek to land abruptly on the bed. In the next moment, Reid stripped both himself and Derek of their boxers. But then the boy hesitated as he looked down at Morgan.

"Too much for you, though?" the latter asked challengingly, grinning suggestively. But this was a game Reid, who was unrecognizable in his drunken state, obviously understood as well. "I just don't know where to start," he murmured, letting the tip of his tongue slide across his lips."

"Wherever you want, as long as you finally start," was the last thing Derek could say before he watched spellbound as Reid knelt between his legs, letting his gaze wander back and forth between his face and his cock in a running fashion. "Maybe here," he murmured, running his fingers lightly up Derek's right thigh, "or here." A kiss on his left hip followed. "Or maybe here?" Reid leaned further up and Derek involuntarily lifted his butt a little to meet him. But only a few hairs grazed his hard cock as Reid circled his tongue around Derek's navel.

Derek sank his fingers into Reid's curls, but Spencer immediately let go. He pulled Derek’s hand out of his hair, as he had done on the couch, and pressed it down on the bed beside him. "Leave your fingers there or I'll stop," he admonished, seeking Derek's gaze. The latter looked back as if transfixed and then nodded, the sign for Reid to continue his game.

Derek felt his pulse beat throughout his body. He was hot and his breathing was getting faster and faster. He hadn't been this aroused in a long time. He let a soft moan slip over his lips as the touches to his groin became more insistent. Light, tentative kisses around the part of his body where he most desired the touch turned into more passionate kisses and little bites. And so unpredictable that he could never guess where the next touch would follow.

"Please!" he finally groaned out, without being specific about what he was asking for. Only it should be more.

He almost began to tremble as careful fingers ran along his stiff cock. His hands clawed at the sheets beneath him, yet he would have preferred to sink his fingers into the brown hair that obscured his view of what was going on down there.

"Aah," he moaned out as Reid's tongue slid unexpectedly and gently over his tip. "Please, please, more!"

"What more?" asked Reid with a grin, letting his big eyes wander back and forth between Derek's face and his cock again. "You can have me any way you want. You just have to tell me."

Derek groaned loudly. "Your mouth, your overly naughty mouth is what I want. My cock in your m ... aah!" Derek moaned again as Reid did exactly what he wanted. Without further teasing, Reid slid his lips down Derek's cock as far as he could and began sucking. "Fuck!" groaned Derek, clenching his hands into fists beside him. He had to force himself to hold back from grabbing Reid's head and controlling the rhythm at which his cock moved in his mouth. Reid's tongue circled around his cock, traveling up the seam along his shaft and around his tip as Reid withdrew his lips all the way there, only to have Derek's cock immediately slide back deep into his mouth. The play was making Derek frantic with arousal and all too soon he sensed that it could be over in a moment.

"Reid, stop!" he tried to warn his partner. "I'm ... oh ... I'm about to cum." But he paused only briefly, only to accelerate the movement of his lips around Derek the next moment. It took only a few seconds before Derek could hold back no longer. A loud moan forced itself over his lips as he reared up and poured himself into Reid's mouth.

Derek was floating along on a wave of euphoria as all tension fell away from him. Blurrily, he was aware of Reid sliding his tongue over his cock a few more times before he scrambled up and half dropped onto Derek.

Derek slowly slid a hand down Reid's back. "There ... I guess I owe you one now," he murmured. Reid shook his head slightly. "Let me ... too." But Reid put a finger to his lips and pulled Derek's hand to his own cock: only at half-mast and clearly wet. "Have you ...?" But Derek's question was interrupted by Reid, who pressed a light kiss to the corner of his mouth. "I need to sleep now," the boy murmured, lowering his head contentedly onto Derek's chest.


	21. Chapter 21

Breathing heavily, Derek again became aware of the hotel room he was in - and that he was still holding Spencer in his arms. With absolute clarity, he suddenly had all the details of that drunken night back in front of him. He was relieved and somehow ashamed at the same time. Actually, his self-image of a straight man had remained pretty well intact. Neither had he had anal sex with the boy, nor had he given him a blowjob. Actually, he had been pretty passive compared to Reid. And somehow that bothered him a little. Normally he prided himself on being a very attentive lover who gave at least as much as he got. But in this case, Reid had been the one giving it all, and he, Derek, had more or less sat back and enjoyed it without indulging Reid equally. The only reassuring thing about it was that Reid had at least cum too, albeit completely without Derek's doing.

As Derek's breathing slowly calmed, he was reminded that there was another bigger problem between his legs. It was slowly becoming a highly inconvenient habit that every time Spencer slept crookedly - and really just slept - next to him, he would then get a boner and couldn't just jerk off and regain his composure afterwards. But Derek didn't want to sneak into the bathroom. He had promised to stay with Reid, so he didn't want to risk the boy waking up and finding him gone. Given his friend's current breakdown, he could guess how painful it must have been for the boy to wake up alone after their night together.

Derek squeezed his eyes tightly shut. He had thought knowing about the night's events would bring clarity and clear the chaos in his mind. But at this point, he had to admit to himself, he was probably still a long way off.

He hoped that tomorrow he would find the opportunity to speak with Reid in private. There was obviously a lot to catch up on, not only for him, but also for the boy wonder. And the sooner they started, the sooner everything could get back to normal.

Derek had the feeling that only minutes had passed when he was jolted out of sleep by the wake-up call of his cell phone. Blindly, he groped around on the bed until he remembered that he had switched sides with Reid, so the nightstand with his phone was now on the other side. When he finally got the phone between his fingers and turned the beeping off, he rubbed his tired eyes before turning toward Spencer - only to find that the bed next to him was empty.

Sliding his hand over the sheet there, he noticed it was still warm. Spencer could have woken up only a little before him. The fact that seconds later the water in the shower could be heard in the bathroom reassured him even more. Spencer hadn't just wandered off.

Quite sleepy, but still somehow in a better mood than the day before, Derek pushed himself out of bed and then quickly slipped into fresh clothes. In about twenty minutes they would meet up again for breakfast with the rest of the team. If he hurried in the bathroom and Reid didn't spend an eternity there either, then maybe they could at least talk briefly about Spencer's breakdown and what had led up to it.

"Good morning, Derek," Reid greeted as he opened the bathroom door a short time later and emerged as if he'd been spun out of an egg. "I hope I didn't take too long?"

"No, it's fine," Derek assured him, eyeing Spencer intently. "Are you all right?"

"Oh, yes, thank you," the latter quickly assured. "Thanks for putting those pills down for me. You didn't have to. I do get headaches more often, but surprisingly never from alcohol."

"That's most fortunate," murmured Derek, to whom Reid's behavior seemed quite odd. If he didn't know any better, he'd have to say that this wasn't the man who had been drunk and so completely out of it yesterday. "Maybe we should talk about yesterday later anyway. Don't you think? I'm just going to freshen up."

"About yesterday?" A blush rose to Spencer's face. "Honestly, I'd really prefer it if we could forget that I've had too many drinks again now. I definitely know I won't be doing that again anytime soon. So you don't have to explain to me how harmful alcohol can be to me and my brain. I promise not to touch another drop of alcohol in the foreseeable future."

Spencer turned away and began rummaging around in his bag. "Weren't you going to the bathroom?" he muttered as he did so. "The others are expecting us at breakfast in a few minutes. I'll ... I'll go ahead." With that, he flipped his bag shut, grabbed his jacket, and hurried out of the room without somehow giving Derek a chance to say anything as well.

"And we are so going to talk about that night," Morgan grumbled under his breath. "And about the other." With that, he disappeared into the bathroom.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always: your feedback is very much appreciated! :-)

Aaron Hotchner declared it an initial success that the previous night had not resulted in any more murdered teachers. "We're obviously on the right track," he told the team, which had gathered in the police office briefing room early that morning along with several colleagues from the Atlanta Police Department. "Everything has remained calm. Even the police officers who were assigned to protect the potential victims didn't notice anything unusual. It is possible that their presence deterred our perpetrator from another murder attempt."

"So where do we go from here?" one of the police officers inquired.

"We start interrogating the suspects this morning," Rossi explained. This, it was already clear, would take some time. Even before the team arrived at the police station, Garcia had already expanded the list of suspects by two names to a total of twelve, and at the same time still had plenty of research ahead of her. Parallel to the interrogations, the police colleagues were to check the alibis of the suspects.

"I'd like to take another look at the crime scenes," Spencer spoke up. "I still feel like we've overlooked something."

Hotch frowned, but when Spencer had a funny feeling, it was usually for good reason. "Do you want to go back and look at everything in the field?"

"The last two crime scenes, maybe. I'd already seen the first ones myself on the first day, after all."

Aaron nodded. "Take someone with you. Four eyes see more than two."

"I'll do it. We always make a good team, don't we, Reid," Morgan immediately volunteered. He sensed Emily and J.J. giving him scrutinizing looks across the table, but he studiously ignored them. At some point he would have to explain to the girls what had happened since he had left the bar after Reid. But that would have to wait.

"Um, ... yeah, ... yeah sure," Spencer mumbled his agreement, burying his nose in the crime scene photos in the file he had in front of him.

A little later, as the team left the room after distributing the interviews, J.J. held Derek back. "Morgan, explain to me what that was yesterday," she asked as she closed the door so Derek couldn't get away from her so quickly.

"What do you mean?" the latter asked innocently.

"You know exactly what I mean," Jennifer hissed impatiently. "First Spencer drinks more than I've ever seen him do, then he leaves the bar in a hurry, and you rush after him like you're stung by a tarantula, without giving your lady of the evening even a teeny explanation. And this morning, almost everything is normal - except for the fact that Spencer can't seem to look you in the eye. What did you do to our boy?"

"Me? What I did to the boy?" asked Derek back indignantly. "Why am I always the one to blame? Why doesn't anyone ask what Spencer might have done to me?"

Shocked at what had blurted out of him, Derek paused. Jennifer tilted her head and looked at him searchingly. "What ... what did he do to you?"

"Nothing, nothing at all," Derek quickly rebuffed, glancing toward the door. What was the quickest way to get him out of Jennifer's clutches?

"You said no one would ask you. So there's something to ask, and I'll ask you again, what did Spencer do to you?", JJ persisted. "And this doesn't just have something to do with yesterday, does it? You've been weird ever since our night at the club."

"I'm not weird and there's nothing to say," Derek fought back. But Jennifer just stared at him. "Get out of my way," Derek tried threateningly. But Jennifer was not impressed by that either. "J.J., please, just let it go." But the blonde shook her head. "What did Spencer do to you?" she asked again forcefully.

Derek stroked his head with both hands in frustration. "You want to know? You want to know so bad?" he hissed in frustration. "Then I'll tell you. As ridiculous as it sounds, he seduced me. And he tried again yesterday. I ended up in bed with Spencer after we went to the club, and I haven't known where my head was since. And Spencer just tells me to forget all about it."

"Wow," it escaped Jennifer and she dropped into the nearest chair. "Wow."

"Yeah, wow! And now you can laugh about it, ask me how long I've been gay, or tell the whole team for all I care. None of that matters now." Derek reached for the door handle, but Jennifer grabbed his wrist and held him back. "I hate to ask, but ... was this against your will?"

Derek laughed bitterly, "I almost wish I could say yes. But no. I had a blackout at first, but as far as I remember now, I was absolutely volunteering to do it. And yesterday - nothing happened."

"Have you talked to anyone about it yet?", Jenifer wanted to know further. "Do you want to talk to me?"

"Garcia knows about it, at least in part. And Em knows I had a confusing one night stand, but she has no idea with whom," Derek confessed, letting J.J. push him into a chair. She herself sat down across from him.

"Can I ask you a question?" she inquired.

"Which one?"

"Are you gay?"

"No. I mean, no, I'm not gay. So I ... I've never been gay. But you don't just become that overnight. Like suddenly catching a disease," Derek muttered. "That confuses me more than the fact that Spencer might be into me."

Jennifer smiled as she reached for Derek's hands. "Well, that's understandable. Spencer and you, you've always been so close. You love him just as much as he loves you, only now maybe that love has evolved into something different than was there before. Therefore, it's easy for you to accept that Spencer may have developed feelings for you. Throwing your own sexual orientation overboard is a whole different kettle of fish."

"Penelope thinks Spencer defines himself as pansexual," Derek countered quietly. "I actually had to Google it. It means that someone falls in love with someone else without even paying attention to what gender that person is."

"That's a very nice thought. Open to anything, personality is the focus," J.J. smiled. "That's a good fit for Spencer."

"I'm thinking maybe it can fit me a tiny bit, too," Derek murmured.

"I'm afraid I can't give you the answer to that question," Jennifer returned sympathetically. "But maybe you should pursue the question with Spencer. Don't let him turn you away. That boy can put up walls around himself faster than you can say his name. It's up to you to tear those back down and get through to him."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to do that." Derek finally raised his eyes to J.J. again and even managed a small smile. "Thanks for listening. And if you'll let me out of your clutches now, maybe we can not only catch this killer today, but I can clear up some questions with Spencer."

" As if it would ever cross my mind to stop you from chasing the killer," Jennifer smiled back, letting go of Derek's hands. "Go get him - and our boy, too."


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today there is only a short new chapter. But I hope that I still have a little surprise for you.

"I think this time it's definitely up to me to apologize," Derek declared as he steered the SUV out of the parking lot. "I'm sorry."

"I don't see what you have to be sorry about," Reid muttered beside him. "Like you said yourself a few days ago: If I drink too much, it's my own fault. You had nothing to do with that."

"Yes, I do, actually," Derek admitted. "I set out to get you drunk. And I'm truly not proud of that now."

Spencer furrowed his brow in confusion. "Why were you trying to get me drunk?"

Derek took a deep breath, "Because of our night together."

"You were going to get back at me for getting you drunk on whiskey? But I had apologized. And you had said that everything was fine between us," Spencer returned, and Morgan could clearly hear in his voice how hurt the boy was.

"No, you've got me all wrong. It's not about the alcohol, it's about what happened after that."

A red light allowed Derek to glance over at Spencer. He looked into two large, confused looking eyes. "After that?"

"Yeah, after that," Derek confirmed.

"What ... what after that do you mean?" inquired Spencer hesitantly.

Now it was Derek's turn to go wide-eyed. A honk behind him startled him. The light had turned green without him realizing it. He quickly drove off before cautiously asking, "What do you remember about that night? Or ... or from the last one?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Spencer was blushing to the tips of his hair. "Not ... not much? I ... you know, I ... I'm not big on alcohol. There's a reason for that. I ... I don't get hangovers, but ... well my eidetic memory doesn't play along after I've had a few drinks. On the contrary, it shuts down completely."

Derek groaned loudly. This couldn't be happening! "Is that why you told me to just forget about that night and you wouldn't tell anyone about it? Are you saying you couldn't tell anyone about it at all?"

"Yes?", Spencer hesitantly tried an answer. "Are you still mad at me now?"

"Yes! ... No. ... Do you actually know what you've done to me?", Derek was visibly displeased. "No, of course you don't. It's not like you can remember."

"I ... I don't understand," Spencer muttered.

Derek slapped his hands on the steering wheel in frustration before regaining his composure. Just when he had thought he had control of the whole situation somewhat back, Spencer came along with an unexpected confession, messing everything up again.

"Why don't you tell me what's going on," Spencer pleaded.

Derek shook his head. "Now is truly not the time. Just this: I'll take you at your word. You're not drinking another drop of alcohol!"

"Derek ..."

"No, not now. Let's finish this case. And then ... then we'll have a long talk."

Spencer nodded, even though it was clear from his face that he didn't like the fact that Derek had literally just left him starving on an outstretched arm. But for the moment, objections wouldn't do much good indeed.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At this point, the case continues. One thing becomes clear: despite everything that's between Derek and Spencer right now, they work together brilliantly. And this time they really make a real breakthrough in finding their culprit.

Derek pulled into the driveway of the row house where Tanja Montgommery, the latest victim, had lived. The former English and history teacher had lived there alone since her husband had died shortly before her retirement. The house was still sealed, so the likelihood of finding new evidence here was much greater than at the other crime scenes, some of which had already been cleared.

Derek got out and pulled the keys he'd had the senior detective give him out of his pocket. "Where do you want to start?" he inquired of Spencer. "Is there anything in particular you're interested in?"

Reid shook his head. "Let's go inside. Maybe we can do a quick reenactment of what happened before I take another look around."

Morgan nodded and led the way. He cut the police seal and unlocked the door. Reid, meanwhile, pulled some crime scene photos from his pocket. "She was shot in her bed, like most of the other victims. This has to be upstairs," he explained as he flipped through the pictures. "The unsub probably entered the front door and left it open when he took off again."

Derek glanced into the living room adjacent to the hallway, opened another door, this one to the basement, he noted, and finally took a quick look around the kitchen before returning to Reid. "There were no signs that the unsub was down here anywhere?" he inquired. Spencer, still engrossed in the photos, shook his head. "At least the cops who investigated everything couldn't find a clue."

Derek left the boy standing and sprinted briefly up the stairs to get an idea of the location of the rooms. The house was not particularly large. Up here there was a study, a small guest room, a bathroom, and the bedroom where Tanya Montgommery had been shot. Derek returned to the stairs. "Shall we reenact the events?" he asked downstairs.

"Yeah, I'm our unsub," Spencer returned, setting his bag aside. "I'm probably there with the car, but I didn't park it in front of the house or the neighbors might spot me. I come in through the front door, either because that's the easiest access for me or because I know the adjacent neighbor has a doghouse behind the house. The dog might strike if I sneak around the back."

Derek nodded. "Okay, you came in. I didn't wake up. Now what?"

Spencer looked around briefly and glanced again at his photos. "The doors on the right and left were closed. So I either know the house, or at least I suspect the bedroom is upstairs and that's where I'll find my victim. I'll sneak right up the stairs." Spencer slowly made his way up while Derek backed away from the stairs and retreated toward the bedroom door.

At the top of the stairs, Reid again compared the photos to what he saw around him. "Same thing here. I know exactly where to go to find Montgommery. I'm not interested in the other rooms." Spencer turned directly toward the bedroom while Derek disappeared into it, closing the door behind him.

"I'll go straight to the bedroom and open the door," Spencer explained as he did just that.

"I'm in bed. But it's unclear here: am I still asleep or did something wake me up already?" asked Derek, who had laid down on the bed. "I'm under the covers, so at least I'm not alarmed enough to want to jump up yet. But my eyes are open later, so I must have woken up at some point."

"I haven't made any noise so far. The door hasn't squeaked either," Spencer mused, moving the door again. "Maybe I woke you up on purpose. I wanted you to see who was standing in front of you and shoot you."

"But I'm not trying to escape. So you either surprised me enough to send me into shock, or you didn't give me time to do that before you shot," Derek further explained the possible event.

"Or you recognize me and that's why you don't think about escaping right away," Spencer added before pointing a finger at Derek. "I shoot you three times. All shots to the chest. Probably because that's where I'm most sure I'm really killing you."

Derek slumped back into the pillow.

"And just as I came, I'm getting out of the house," Spencer continued as he retreated out into the hallway. "I don't take anything with me, I’m probably in a hurry now, because the shots may have been heard. In a hurry, I'll even leave the front door open."

Derek rose from the bed and stepped out to Spencer. "Anything you noticed now?"

Reid ran his fingers through his hair. Morgan could see his brain just rattling along. Without another word, he followed him as he made his way downstairs, then stopped in front of the front door, brooding. "Remember what you asked me two days ago?" asked Reid, looking at Morgan.

"Regarding what?", Derek had no idea what the boy was just alluding to.

"We were in the office and you were studying the crime scene reports from the first three murders. You were asking how the perp could get into the house so easily and if no one here had an alarm system," Spencer reminded him.

"Yeah, so?"

"Tanya Montgommery had an alarm system," Reid returned, pointing to the box next to the door. "It was turned off."

"Maybe she forgot to turn it on?" speculated Derek.

"But still intensely cleaned the exact buttons on the numbers that go with her code?"

"What are you trying to say?" asked Morgan, who still didn't understand what Reid was getting at. "It says here in the file that Tanja Montgommery's fingerprints were the only ones on the number pad - except for the three, eight and nine keys. The numerical code for the pad is 33983, and our perpetrator turned the pad off himself and then cleaned the buttons to make sure he didn't leave any traces," Reid explained, his flow of words picking up speed as he did so. "Do you know what that means?"

"That the unsub clearly knew the code," Morgan immediately returned.

"Yes, and that our profile is wrong, Derek. Our unsub is not a student. He's a former student! The door wasn't forced open. None of the crime scenes had the door broken open. I didn't even notice that before. The perpetrator was able to open the doors without any problem, and this was not the first time he had been in the houses during the murders. He knew his way around he had been around before."

"But who would just give a former student their house key?" interrupted Derek Spencer's monologue.

"Nobody. That's the thing. Our unsub is familiar with locks. He probably works for a locksmith. May have even visited each house before, under the cover of customer acquisition, and offered to check the security of the locks for the residents. He may even have made impressions of the keys in the process. This definitely wasn't a juvenile."

"Damn! That means we're just completely wrong again with our search," Morgan cursed. "I'm calling Hotch. He needs to know right away. Spencer nodded and picked up the phone himself. "I'll let Garcia know. She'll have to use our existing parameters to search through former students' files. Thank God the search can be narrowed down a bit more by referencing a locksmith or something like that."


	25. Chapter 25

"I told you we'd need your geographic profile, didn't I?" triumphed Derek as he paced up and down behind Spencer. "It all made sense."

"And what's the point of you scurrying around me like a mother hen?" inquired Reid, slightly annoyed. He did not lift his eyes from the monitor in front of him. For half an hour, he had been staring spellbound at the screen, on which the recording of a traffic camera was running at high speed. While Garcia was digging through tons of files of former Atlanta High students, Spencer had picked up on the idea Derek had brought in a few days ago: He had worked out the most likely routes between the three crime scenes of the first murders and put some police colleagues on it to get him all the traffic camera recordings along those routes that had been made on the night of the murders. With a little luck, he could spot a locksmith's car somewhere within the relevant time windows that the perpetrator had used to drive from one crime scene to the other. On the one hand, it could not be ruled out that the unsub had used another vehicle, but on the other hand, there was also the question of whether the unsub could afford a second vehicle at all. In this respect, there was at least the possibility that he had been traveling in his company car.

"I'm not a mother hen, nor do I scurry," Morgan returned. Spencer's somewhat grumpy tone didn't scratch him at all at the moment. "Hotch told me to give you a hand. And as long as you don't tell me how to help you, I'll just look over your shoulder."

"You're not looking over my shoulder. You're running around. That's ... irritating."

"Then let me help you."

"You can't help me. You can ..." Spencer interrupted himself. "Oh, you know what? I really need a cup of coffee and a donut. Can you maybe get me those?"

Derek had to grin, "Are you trying to throw me out of the room right now?"

"I'm not kicking you out, am I? I'm just asking for your help. That's what you wanted," Reid returned, unable to help a small smirk after all.

"Okay, okay, your wish is my command!" laughed Morgan, turning toward the door. "I'll be back shortly."

Derek turned toward the kitchen, hoping that fresh coffee was already brewing there. And surely he'd find a donut or two there, too. After all, what police office didn't have them?

"Looks like you're completely over your headache," Rossi commented as he stepped next to Morgan and grabbed a coffee cup from the shelf as well. "Or am I mistaken?"

"Yeah, sure. I wasn't in pain yesterday either," Derek returned, somewhat confused.

"And the rest ... has gone away, too?"

Oh, thought Morgan, that's where the wind is blowing from. Rossi wanted to check again to see if Derek might not need his fatherly advice.

"Everything's fine," he replied with a smile. "And with any luck, we'll be home by tomorrow. I'm really longing for my own bed after all those nights in the hotel."

Rossi nodded. "Well, then there's nothing for me to do here right now." Rossi filled his cup and then strolled leisurely out of the kitchen.

Yes, all was really almost right with the world at the moment, Derek thought to himself as he picked up two donuts from a box on the counter.

It was only on the drive back to the police station, during which Reid had sat next to him in silence, hacking away at his tablett like a madman, that he had realized what the boy's confession actually meant: if Spencer didn't even know what had happened that unspeakable night, then he hadn't meant to rebuff him by asking him to simply forget what had happened. That lifted Morgan's spirits considerably.

As Derek stepped out of the kitchen, he paused briefly and glanced musingly at the glass door behind which he could see Spencer sitting. The boy was really attractive, even if he seemed, as he did just now, like a driven man, like someone pursued by a horde of demons. How he, Derek, would love to keep those demons away from him.

"Have you talked to him yet?" asked Jennifer as she stepped next to Morgan and followed his gaze over to Reid. "Yeah, ... no, ... it's complicated," Derek mumbled so no one around them could listen. "I found out something that makes this whole situation seem a whole lot different. I'm still talking to him about it, but not between doors. And then ... then I have to try something else there."

J.J. raised his eyebrows. "You're not going to mess around, though, are you, Derek? No repeat of what went down in the bar yesterday."

Morgen smiled at her. "No, certainly not a repeat. I promise. And now our boy wonder needs his coffee."

With that, Morgan continues on his way back to Reid. But before he could reach the door, Spencer yanked it open and came shooting out. "I think I got him!" he exclaimed excitedly. "Come on!" he demanded, grabbing the coffee cup from Morgan's hands with one hand and pulling the dark-skinned man back into the room behind him with the other. "There!", Reid immediately pointed to the screen, which showed a still image from a traffic camera. He almost spilled the coffee in his excitement, but then remembered the cup and took a big sip from it before continuing, "That's at an intersection that's on one of the routes the perp probably used between the second and third crime scenes. I factored in distance, probable speed, traffic at night, and possible traffic lights, and it all fits. This could be our perpetrator's car."

Morgan settled into the chair Reid had vacated and studied the image closely. A small van was just crossing the intersection coming from the south. No driver could be seen, but there was a company logo on the side of the van, clearly showing a key. The text underneath, however, was richly blurred. "We need to send this to Garcia right away. Maybe she can make the writing legible," Derek said as he stood back up. "Really good job, kid!"

He hurried out to let Hotch know, leaving Spencer to ask Penelope for help with the picture.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see, we are getting closer to the solution of the case and with it the end of this story. This weekend there will be at least two, maybe three or four new chapters.  
> In the meantime I'm also quite far with Spencer's POV. That means, if this story finds its conclusion here, you might get to know his point of view afterwards.  
> Besides, I'm already thinking about what to write after that. Are there maybe some prompts out there? What kind of story about Spencer and Derek would you like to read from me? I look forward to your suggestions and ideas.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you know that Derek can be pretty empathetic and totally sweet at the same time? If not, this new chapter will prove it.   
> Spencer is in for a real roller coaster ride of emotions, but Derek is definitely making sure he doesn't fall out.

"Another day with no results!" sighed Spencer as he plopped down on the bed at the hotel.

"You can't say it like that," Derek immediately objected. "Tonight we've got umpteen patrols on the street looking for vans of locksmiths. I'm sure of it: either the police catch our unsub tonight, or we get a name and address from Garcia tomorrow. She got Kevin to help her. He's trying to get what he can out of the camera image, and Garcia is pulling a night shift over the files. That's the best we can do. And tomorrow, we'll put this guy in jail."

Spencer nodded wearily.

"Derek?" he asked, just as Morgan was about to direct his steps toward the bathroom. "Can we talk now?"

Derek hesitated for a moment. Actually, he wanted to put it off until they were back at Quantico. But maybe he could make some headway today. "Let me take a quick shower. Then we'll talk, okay?"

Spencer just nodded and stared after him until the door closed.

A good fifteen minutes later, Derek made himself comfortable on the bed, his back against the headboard and his legs stretched out long in front of him. Quite deliberately, he assumed a relaxed posture, for he could see Spencer mirroring just the opposite of him, tense as a compressed spring. The boy had been sitting on the bedspread with his legs crossed and in his pajamas since Derek had come out of the bathroom, his head tucked in and his back turned in Derek's direction. As if he were waiting for a sermon.

It's probably my fault, Derek thought to himself. After all, I was pretty much snapping at him in the car this morning when he told me he didn't remember anything either.

"Okay, let's talk about last night," Derek said quietly.

"Hmm," was Spencer's only response.

"Don't you want to talk to me?"

"Yes, I do."

"Then look at me, too. I don't like talking to your back so much."

Hesitantly, Spencer spun around and squinted up into Derek's face from below. His head lifted a little when he saw neither impatience nor anger there.

"So, you don't remember last night?" asked Derek, trying to figure out where Reid's blackout began and ended.

Spencer just shook his head.

"What can you remember?"

"We ... we were at the bar," Spencer began hesitantly. "Emily got us drinks. I think it was pretty fun. But I'm not sure. At some point, it wasn't fun anymore. I don't know what happened. And then ... well then I woke up in the morning here in bed. And ..." Spencer broke off.

"And what?" echoed Morgan.

"You ... you held me tight. It ... it wasn't so easy to ... I mean, to get out of bed without waking you up."

Morgan nodded, and one corner of his mouth twitched. He could guess that. One or two of his girls had also complained that he could cling like an octopus in his sleep.

"You said this morning that I did something to you in the night. Please, Derek, what did I do to you?" Spencer was now looking at Derek with wide eyes, and the latter almost believed that the boy suspected what had happened the first night.

"You're not lying? You really don't know anything else," Derek inquired again.

"When have I ever lied to you?" asked Spencer back.

For a moment Morgan wondered where to start now, but then his plan was set. First, he wanted to see how Reid reacted to what he'd forgotten from last night - with a few small omissions on Derek's part.

"Okay. We were at the bar. And like I said, I'm afraid I also contributed to you getting too much alcohol. Not out of revenge, certainly not. It was, ... just a fun thing. I wanted you to loosen up a little bit." Okay, now that was absolutely a lie, Derek's conscience immediately spoke up. But this little white lie would hopefully be forgiven later. "Unfortunately, I didn't notice that your mood then somehow turned into the opposite. I was on the dance floor when I noticed at some point that you were just staring ahead. And the next minute, you were staggering outside."

Spencer furrowed his brow. "Was she ... was the woman you were dancing with blonde?"

"Do you remember?" inquired Morgan immediately. If Spencer said yes now, he might have to modify his narrative after all.

"Vaguely? I just got the impression I saw you with a pretty blonde."

"That's right, she was definitely pretty," Derek muttered. "But that's not important right now. Anyway, then I ran after you - only to find you pretty much passed out here in our room. You hardly reacted at all, just stared ahead of you and sniffled a bit. So I undressed you and put you to bed. And then ... well then you told me you'd always be alone because everyone would leave you, your dad, Gideon, Maeve ..."

Spencer squeezed his eyes shut and turned red at the same time.

Morgan waited a moment, but Spencer didn't say a word.

"Hey, kid, even if you don't remember, I told you this yesterday: you're not alone. You have the entire team and you have me. As long as it's in my power, I'll never leave you alone."

"That ... I know ... I know," Spencer muttered.

"Well, then it seems you don't quite trust your own knowledge," Derek returned. "Anyway, last night you were convinced that you were all alone. And to convince you otherwise, I took you in my arms and held you."

Spencer took a deep breath and audibly expelled it. "So I ruined your date yesterday, and I cried to you afterwards, too? Great, how can you even stand me?"

"Hey, kiddo, don't worry about it. We all have days when the world gets too much for us," Derek said. "Still, I'd like to know where you got the idea that no one would be there for you."

"Look at me!" groaned Spencer in frustration. "You experience me day in and day out. How many people do you notice not looking at me like I have two heads as soon as I open my mouth? And how many even notice me when I don't say anything?"

"It may not be that everyone appreciates you, but ..."

"Oh, they appreciate me very much," Spencer interrupted his friend, talking himself into a frenzy. "They appreciate my IQ. The Spencer Reid database. An answer to every question. Extremely handy when you don't have a calculator on hand at the moment. Or an army of police officers when you need to sift through mountains of files. Unfortunately, you have to put up with the useless facts that come with what you need. Why doesn't Reid have a button where you can turn him off? You know I've heard that behind my back more than once?"

Derek felt a quiet twinge as he had to remind himself that he had also told Reid to shut up before, when too much of his knowledge had spilled out of him again.

"I'm sorry," Derek interjected. "I know I'm not always fair to you either. But even if your IQ were to whiz down 100 points overnight: you'd still be my best friend. And Garcia, J.J., Rossi, ... whoever you ask on the team, they'll all say the same thing."

"By 100 points," Spencer muttered, again letting see a small smile. "Then I'd probably have fewer problems and be less alone."

"What can I do to convince you that you're not alone," Derek inquired. "I'd do anything."

"I really do know," Spencer said now as he slowly calmed down. "But maybe you just need to remind me every once in a while."

"Okay, then I'll start doing that tonight," Derek immediately returned. He had actually wanted to hug Spencer long ago, but now a much better thought occurred to him. "Come on, get under the covers."

"What are you up to," Spencer asked suspiciously, but followed the command anyway. "Are you going to tell me a bedtime story now?"

"Not quite. I think I have a better way to jog your memory."

Derek slid himself under his covers, then lifted them again a bit and demanded, "Move over. I'm going to hold you all night long. And if you need to get free of me again in the morning, you'll know for a fact that you haven't been alone for the last few hours."

Actually, Morgan expected protest, but surprisingly, Reid hesitated only briefly before moving to Derek's side of the bed and letting him wrap him in his arms and his comforter.

Morgan waited another second, then slid his arm and shoulder under Reid so that the latter's head came to rest half on his chest. "Now get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow we'll catch our killer."


	27. Chapter 27

The next morning, events came thick and fast. Kevin had spent all night editing the image the traffic camera had recorded. But much of the writing remained illegible. So he and Penelope had searched out all the locksmiths in Atlanta and compared the logo and inscription with what they found online about the companies. And they had indeed found what they were looking for: A certain Tobias Merpl was the owner of a one-man business that operated as a locksmith and also installed alarm systems. Merpl fit the profile and, moreover, his former school record showed that he had had lessons with every single one of the teachers who had been killed.

From there, then, it had been a short step to have Garcia identify the address of the suspect, in front of whose house the BAU and a squad of local police had just arrived.

"Rossi, Morgan, J.J., you take the back with three men," Aaron ordered as the team, along with a squad of police officers, approached the suspect's small, rundown house. "Prentiss, you cover the right side with two men. Reid, with two men to the left. I don't want to leave him any chance of possibly escaping through a window. I'll go in front with the rest."

At Hotch's signal, the group split up and each section moved forward. Hotch himself waited with his group for another half minute before moving toward the front door, giving the others enough time to get into position.

Once at the door, he made short work of it. He banged on it twice and shouted, "Tobias Merpl! Open up, it's the FBI!"

He didn't wait for a response, however, but immediately beckoned two of the police officers forward, who used a battering ram to push the door open. Immediately the policemen swarmed into the house. A crash could also be heard from the back. Morgan and his men had just broken down the door.

Before the police could search the rooms on the first floor, a rumbling could be heard from the stairs. In the next moment a bang and one of the policemen cried out: He had been hit by a bullet in the upper arm. The police and the BAU team took cover in the entrances to the rooms adjacent to the hallway while Hotch shouted loudly, "Merpl, stop shooting and surrender. You're not getting out of here!"

At the top of the stairs, Aaron perceived movement, but received no response.

"Merpl, put the gun down! Then we can talk about how to end this without further bloodshed," Hotch tried again. He didn't dare advance with his men toward the stairs at the moment. Their unsub probably had a good view of anyone moving out of cover from above.

At that moment, Derek stepped into the hallway from the back of the house. He probably couldn't be seen from above, so he ventured to signal Hotch. Derek indicated to his team leader that he would try to find a way up the outside to surprise the perpetrator from behind. All Hotch had to do at this time was distract Merpl from what was going on outside.

"Merpl, won't you at least tell me why you're killing your former teachers?", Hotch turned back to the unsub as Derek slipped back out the way he had come.

"Prentiss, Rossi, secure the exit here," Derek hissed to his colleagues as he let his gaze wander searchingly upward outside the back door. "I'll try to get upstairs from the outside and surprise Merpl that way." But there was no opportunity for him to do so on this side of the house. "Maybe in the front, by the canopy of the door," Prentiss suggested, also realizing that Morgan wouldn't get far here.

Derek nodded, then turned right to circle the house. Beyond the corner of the house, he almost tripped over Reid, who had taken cover against the wall of the house with two policewomen, nearly obscured by a bush in the process.

"Shit! Morgan, what are you doing sneaking around here? I was beginning to think Merpl got away from you," murmured Reid, who immediately lowered his gun, which he had been holding in Derek's face.

"I need to get to the top floor," Morgan summarized his explanation. "Merpl's firing down from the stairs, we can't get to him right now."

Spencer faltered briefly. "There's a window open up there," he murmured, pointing diagonally above him.

"Just what I was looking for," Morgan returned. "Go on, make robber ladder. I've got to get up there."

Reid stared at Morgan in disbelief. "You don't really think I'm going to get you up there. You're what? Three times my weight?"

Derek shook his head. "Well, then..." he looked around for backup, but had to realize that the two women were even less able to help him.

"I'm going up," Reid declared, "Come on, help me!"

"Are you crazy?", Morgan promptly wanted to know. Such solo efforts were his business, not the young genius's.

"No, but considerably less heavy than you," Reid argued. "So let's go! We don't have forever!"

"You ..."

Reid glaredat Morgan with such annoyance that he immediately fell silent again. "I'm not a little kid, and this isn't my first field assignment. I got full marks on the last shooting test, and I'm not going to let him get that close to a scuffle."

Derek rarely saw this determined and confident manner in Reid. In fact, only when he could lecture from his broad knowledge to an inclined audience. "Okay," he relented. "But be careful."

Reid just nodded. He slid his gun into his holster and waited for Morgan to stand under the window and fold his hands so he could climb up.

Derek almost held his breath at the sudden closeness of Spencer to him. But then he remembered what mattered now: getting Reid up as far as possible so that he could get a grip on the window sill and climb up.

The kid really is a flyweight, it went through Derek's mind as he pushed Spencer up. And surprisingly adept at climbing. He wouldn't have expected that from the otherwise athletically clumsy bookworm. Spencer had quickly found his footing and deftly hoisted himself through the window into the room beyond. Now Derek could only hope that he surprised Merpl and not the other way around.

"You stay here, I have to go back inside," Derek instructed the two policewomen before quickly disappearing again towards the back entrance.

"No way in?" wanted Prentiss to know as Derek rejoined her and Rossi. But before Derek could explain what had happened, two gunshots were suddenly heard from inside the house. "Shit! Reid!" groaned Derek, rushing past his two colleagues through the back door and inside.

"Merpl! Stop shooting now or we'll storm!" yelled Hotch upstairs. But when he saw Derek in the hallway, he stumbled. Who or what had their perpetrator been shooting at?

"Merpl?" he shouted again - and received a groan and shuffle in response. Then silence.

"Hotch, everything’s okay!" suddenly came Reid's voice from above.

"Reid?" asked Hotch incredulously, looking questioningly at Derek, who just shrugged in response.

"Yeah, you guys can come up. I've got him," Spencer returned from above.

Immediately, movement came to the team and Derek rushed up the stairs, leading all.

At the top, just a few steps from the stairs, he found Spencer bent over Merpl. The boy was just trying to pull up the prisoner, whom he had already handcuffed. When he saw Derek, he lowered him back down. "You're welcome to take over. That's for people with more muscle," he explained as, smirking slightly, he stowed his revolver in its holster and stepped over to Hotch, who had it written all over his face that he wanted an explanation.

"I couldn't have lifted Morgan up to the window, so I got in myself. I surprised Merpl from behind, he tried to shoot at me, but he's a lousy shot, frankly, if his victim won't hold still. I don't know where the shot went. Anyway, I got him in the thigh. The rest ... the rest will be in my report tomorrow," Reid summarized. "And now, now I really need disinfectant. This place is awfully dirty and the guy probably hasn't bathed in weeks," disgusted, Reid looked at his hands and then quickly pushed past Hotch to at least find water and soap somewhere.

Derek, who had meanwhile pulled Tobias Merpl to his feet, couldn't hold on any longer and burst out laughing. "Taking out a killer within a few minutes, but being afraid of bacteria, that's our boy wonder!"


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The case is solved, the team flies back to Quantico.  
> We are now definitely in the final spurt of this story. And to come to a happy end, for this Derek, as you will learn in a moment, has forged a plan.
> 
> I'm happy to hear how you liked the case I put in. It was actually more difficult for me to write down the case than the whole storyline around Derek and Spencer.

Lost in thought, Morgan sat next to Reid on the plane, all too aware of the young man at his side. The case was over, they were on the return flight.

Reid was completely absorbed in the book he was reading, and so Morgen could dare to eye him out of the corner of his eye. He looked relaxed, not as driven as he had been the last few days.

Derek had been caught off guard by the morning's events and especially by Spencer's actions. Where had the boy suddenly found the courage to go into the lion's den, i.e. Tobias Merpl's house, and overpower the man without backup? Not that Reid lacked courage in general. But he usually gave way to those who simply had more experience with such situations and ... well ... were also just physically better equipped for it. He would have to ask Reid at the next opportunity what had driven him to do it. But in any case - at least in retrospect - it had been damn sexy. As long as he didn't get himself in trouble with it, the boy could happily act that confident and determined more often.

And then there had been last night's test. Yes, Derek actually saw this one as quite a bit of an experiment. And as one that had succeeded. For one thing, he had succeeded in looking a bit behind Reid's façade. The boy had opened up, had shown Derek that he could trust him with his insecurities and that he trusted Derek not to use those weaknesses against him. Derek knew that at some point there would come a time when he would have to meet Spencer halfway and open up to him if ... well, if what was there between them was going to get a chance to grow.

And that then involved the experiment Derek had done with himself. That he wanted to hold Spencer in his arms was not only to make the boy feel safe, but also to clear up a few questions in himself. How close could he let a man get to him? Physically. How much physical contact was he comfortable with?

Being attracted to a man - and that's what it was all about, Derek had to admit to himself by now - was completely new territory for him. The thought of kissing a man repelled him - at least until he recalled how good the kisses with Reid had felt. Reid was the factor that made everything previously unthinkable and far-fetched suddenly seem possible and even desirable.

But after Derek had been extremely drunk, he didn't fully trust the memories that had returned. Since it was out of the question to just experimentally kiss Spencer - oh what chaos that would cause again - he had fallen for the idea of hugging him. Longer than he usually did for hugs, and aware of the fact that this was not just a friend, but first and foremost a man he was holding in his arms. That Reid also gave him a template to have him in his arms all night, Derek saw as a twist of fate.

While the boy had fallen asleep relatively quickly, probably in part because he was emotionally exhausted, Derek had lain awake for some time. The scent of Spencer's hair had gone straight to his nostrils, had lulled his brain, but in return had awakened a whole other part of his body. And this time Derek had consciously embraced it. He hadn't pushed the boy away to get his arousal back under control, but rather had even begun to lightly brush against the back of Reid's neck. In doing so, he had imagined what it might be like to touch Spencer all over. The throbbing between his legs clearly showed him that the feeling might well be welcome, perhaps not with just any man, but certainly with Spencer.

"We'll finally be home in just under an hour," Rossi, sitting across from him, snapped Derek out of his thoughts. "And then, please, no more cases for me to get on a plane for at least three days."

Hotch nodded. "We all really need some time off now. There are other teams, too. I promise, no case until we've had a real weekend."

"Funny, Hotch, really funny," Emily agreed. "You do realize it's already Friday? I plead for at least a week of no flying."

"I'll see what I can do," her boss returned.

Derek smiled as he reached for his cell phone and rose from his seat. The upcoming weekend came just in time for him to get his plan further on track.

"How's my baby girl?" inquired Morgan as Garcia answered his call. He leaned against the jet's small kitchen counter, watching his colleagues. As long as no one came his way, he could talk to Penelope in private.

"My chocolate muffin! I'm fine now that I know I'll soon be back in your strong arms," Garcia fluted. "So, are you going to bring me back something from your trip now?"

"Sure thing, my girl. I've got plenty of chocolate kisses in my luggage for you."

Penelope giggled. "I'll be too happy to stick my fingers in that," she said cheekily, but then continued a little more seriously, "But now let me know how you are. We haven't been able to talk at all."

"I'm doing quite well, to be honest. I've got my memory back about what happened that night and..."

"And? What happened?" squeaked Penelope excitedly in his ear.

"Um ... you know the saying about the silent gentleman?"

"Well, at least you seem to know now that you enjoyed it."

"Yeah ... yeah, I guess I did. It's all still a bit of a blur," Morgan returned.

"What about Spencer? Have you talked to him? And ... and how did he react? And where do you go from here?" The questions just poured out of Penelope.

"Just slow down," Derek tried to recapture the horses running away with Garcia. "So much has happened here. What I can, I'd like to tell you in person. Just so you know, Spencer's had a blackout, too. And I haven't filled him in yet on what we did that night."

"What, why is that? Maybe that would take care of all your problems?"

Derek nodded before answering, "I had to figure something out for myself before I came clean with Spencer. What would be the point of me bringing something back to his mind that I myself actually want to leave behind?"

"Does that mean you and Spencer aren't going to work out after all?" Now Morgan could hear some disappointment in his friend's voice.

"No, it just means that I had to figure out where I stood first. And that's become somewhat clear to me. And that's why I need your help now."

"What can I do for you?" inquired Penelope immediately, not quite seeing her pink clouds fly away after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At this point a little teaser for the near future. I'm planning to do a little Valentine's Day story with Derek and Spencer, just something short that I want to bring online after this story is finished. The plot isn't quite set yet. Any ideas from your side that I should work with?


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had an extremely relaxing weekend with lots of time to write. Therefore, I will not disappoint you and post another chapter here.  
> I am curious what you say about it. Derek is now implementing his plan and poor Spencer has to suffer a bit. But you can be sure that he will be rewarded in the end.

"Do you really think this is a good idea?" inquired Reid to Morgan for the third time. "What if Penelope tries to tempt me to drink again?"

Spencer locked his car, which he and Morgan had just parked near the club they had visited just over a week ago.

"Then you stand firm on mineral water. That's what you promised me," Morgan countered. "You saw how happy Penelope was that we were back. Why don't you treat her to the pleasure of dragging us to the club again tonight?"

"Yeah, sure. Otherwise I wouldn't even be here," Reid returned, and Derek could clearly tell from his face that he really would have preferred to run off to his books.

With his elbow, he gave Reid a little shove. "Come on, let's get into the action. I'm sure the others are waiting."

Sure enough, J.J. came right out to meet them as soon as they were through the door, pulling them toward a seating area that had a perfect view of the bar and dance floor.

"Glad you're finally here," Garcia greeted the two men. "I already got us something to warm us up!" She slid Reid and Morgan a shot glass each, then raised hers to toast them. But Spencer shook his head. "I ... I don't drink. I ... I'm going to get a glas of water." And off he disappeared from the table.

Derek exchanged a quick glance with Penelope. She grabbed Reid's shot glass, emptied it with a look of pleasure, then pushed the empty glass toward Derek. "Not a word," Derek implored Rossi as well as Emily and J.J. "We were just planning a little prank."

A small smirk flitted across Rossi's face, while Emily and J.J. giggled. The pranks between Morgan and Reid were almost legendary.

Spencer looked a tiny bit puzzled when he returned to the table and saw his shot glass empty in front of Morgan. "I was just relieving you of temptation," Derek murmured in Spencer's ear so no one could hear. "O ... okay," was all Spencer could produce in response.

After four more rounds of shots, alternating between Rossi and Emily, and each time a glass had also appeared in front of Spencer, the young genius looked incredulously at Morgan as he tried to grab the unwanted shot glass again. "Isn't this getting to be too much," he asked Morgan quietly. "You don't have to drink that."

"You can't let liquor perish," was Morgan's reply, promptly pulling the glass over to him. "Besides, I need a tip for my rook." From the nine empty glasses so far - his and Reid's shots - he had indeed built a small tower in front of him.

"Let him have it," J.J. interjected. "Morgan can take it. You'd better come out on the dance floor with me."

"Do I have to?" grumbled Spencer, but still let J.J. pull him out of his seat. "You know I'll just make a fool of myself by dancing."

"Nonsense, you can move quite well. And besides, no one's looking that closely anyway." And already she was pulling him away with her onto the dance floor.

"Who wants it this time?" asked Derek immediately, pushing the shot glass away from him to the center of the table. "I won't say no," Emily returned, emptying the glass in one go. "But aren't you going to start telling us what you're up to? One more glass and Reid will call you an ambulance because he thinks you have alcohol poisoning!"

Derek calculated for a moment. "No, I think I'd still have to be below a really dangerous level, even if I'd actually drunk Reid's five shots. You could have let me have one, by the way."

Garcia shook his head. "You said yourself that you needed to stay reasonably sober for your little prank" - and she hesitated just before using the word prank - "to really work. So from now on, no more alcohol for you either. I'll get you something from the bar that looks totally dangerous but has zero alcohol," she said, already stumbling away.

"So you let Garcia in on it," Emily echoed.

"My baby girl knows everything, or let's say almost everything," Derek grinned, then looked over to the dance floor. J.J. was clearly having her fun, and Spencer ... yeah, she'd been right: he could really move. Derek pondered when he had actually seen Spencer really dance. He could only remember J.J.'s wedding at the moment, but that was more classical dancing, not freestyle like here in the club. Somehow he had assumed that Reid would make a similarly comical figure on the disco dance floor as he did in workout clothes on the sports field. But he was clearly wrong about the boy again.

"The way I see it, it's kind of about you convincing him that you're drunk as a skunk. But then?" inquired Rossi.

"What then, if my plan works out, you'll probably find out on Monday," Morgan explained mysteriously - turning his gaze back to the dance floor.

"What's that now?" inquired Spencer incredulously as he returned to the group's table after two more songs with J.J. and saw a giant cocktail glass standing in front of Derek's nose. "There ... you ... have to ask the bartender," Derek brought out slowly, deliberately swallowing a few sounds. "I told him I wanted something that would fire me up real good. He got ... he got it done."

"And you guys let him do that?" inquired Reid, now slightly annoyed with his colleagues. "He'll drink himself into a coma today if this keeps up."

Rossi just shook his head. "He can take it. And if he's got a proper hangover tomorrow, he'll probably join you on the next bar crawl and just drink water."

"Come on, Spence, don't be mad," Morgan's growled softly in his ear. "I want to dance now, too. Come on!"

"I just sat back down," Spencer tried to fend him off, but Morgan reached for his hand. "Come on! There's no way you're going to dance with J.J. but then ditch me."

Morgan took a slightly shaky step toward the dance floor and tugged on Reid's arm. But Spencer turned back to the table: "When we get back, that darn glass will be gone," he hissed rather indignantly, pointing at Morgan's cocktail glass. "And don't you dare let me see anything else alcoholic in its place!"

"The boy's digging out his protective instincts," Emily laughed as Spencer finally let Morgan pull him away. "But honestly, what is Morgan planning?"

"You'll hear nothing from me," Penelope grinned, locking her mouth with an imaginary key.

On the dance floor, Derek couldn't help grinning. This was all going better than he had imagined. Not for a moment had Spencer noticed the deception, and under the mask of the drunk he could now dare even a little more. The fact that his teammates could follow all this as well was by now of little concern to Derek.

Rhythmically Derek moved to the insistent beats and pulled out all the stops to come across as sexy as possible. He had his arms over his head, which, as he knew only too well, revealed a bit of skin between his shirt and low-slung pants. He let his hips circle provocatively. Slowly, he turned in front of Reid so he could see him from all angles.

When he felt a hand on his waist, Derek winced briefly. Was the boy really that brash? Even without alcohol?

But when the fingers pushed forward a little more, Morgan had to realize that they were significantly smaller than Spencer's and also had painted nails. Shit!

Immediately Derek spun around and looked down at a petite dark-haired woman who smiled perkily at him. He didn't need that right now. He leaned down to her ear, knowing she was expecting flirty words or a compliment, but not what he whispered to her, "Sorry, dear, I'm already taken. And my boyfriend doesn't like it when someone touches me." Immediately, the young woman withdrew her hand and looked around. Derek's eyes searched for Spencer at the same moment. The boy had already retreated two steps and at the moment it almost looked as if he was about to make his escape.

Morgan pushed past his unwanted dance partner to Reid and grabbed his hand before he could disappear.

"She's pretty," Spencer quickly brought out. "Then why can't I go back to the table now?"

Derek, however, shook his head and continued to hold Spencer's hand. "I wanted to dance with you, not her," he muttered. And he took advantage of the fact that at that moment the song changed and the DJ put on something slow. Derek pulled Spencer into his arms and put his head on his shoulder. Lightly, he swayed back and forth in time with the song.

"Derek, come on, what are you doing?" asked Spencer, trying in vain to push away from Morgan. "Everyone can see us here. The whole team can see us."

"I don't care," Derek grumbled into Spencer's neck. If the boy really wanted to get away, he'd have to try a lot harder.

"Derek, you're drunk. I'm not one of your girls. Let's get out of here now, please," Spencer tried again.

"Getting out of here sounds good," Derek muttered. "Where are you going to take me?"

"How about I take you home? You should sleep off that high. I'm sure you'll have a terrible hangover tomorrow. And have I told you the ways in which alcohol affects your brain, and therefore your whole body?"

"I've read that moderate drinkers can actually think better than teetotalers. That's why I'm drinking moderately now. Maybe then I'll be able to keep up with you someday" Derek brought out slurring his words. "But bringing me home sounds good too. I agree: you can ... seduce me? No, kidnap. Abduct...that's right. Oh, just come lead me."

Derek slowly released Spencer from his arms and grabbed his hand, leaving the boy with no choice but to pull him off the dance floor.

Back at the table, Spencer made short work of the situation. He quickly said goodbye to his colleagues, grabbed his bag and both Morgan's and his jacket, then unerringly directed his drunken friend toward the club's exit.

"I'm looking forward to that story now. I've never wanted a Monday so badly," J.J. chuckled as she watched the two men leave.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm glad to hear that the past chapter was so well received. Writing the end of this story - and that's where we're heading in giant steps now - has really been a lot of fun.
> 
> I've also made a lot of progress on the story from Spencer's point of view. That's why you'll get to read it right after this.
> 
> I also got some ideas for further stories. For one or the other, a plot is already slowly developing in my mind's eye. If you still have some ideas, please let me know. :-)

"Asking you about what I forgot from a week ago probably won't do any good now," Spencer said more to himself than to Derek as he steered his car through the relatively empty streets. Derek had a faint smile on his lips. Probably, he thought, the boy is well aware that we've been here before. Derek wondered if his memory was coming back, too.

"I want breakfast," he returned in response to Reid's question.

"Now? It's the middle of the night! A little before 12:30, to be exact. There's no way I'm taking you to some diner to get pancakes now."

Derek pulled a pout, but returned, "Tomorrow, I was thinking more like tomorrow. Then I'll tell you everything ... everything I know. You can ... interrogate me when ... if you want," he brought out slowly and deliberately slurring his words a bit. "Until then ... shh!"

"Oh man, what did I do to deserve this," Spencer just muttered.

A few minutes later, Reid pulled into the driveway in front of Morgan's house. "We're here."

"Where?"

"Well, at your house. Your jacket is in the back seat. And I honestly hope you've got your key in there and not in that travel bag you left at the office." Spencer rested his forehead on the steering wheel and waited. But nothing happened. "Derek," he grumbled without looking up, "you need to get out and go inside your house. I don't plan to spend the night in the car on your doorstep."

"Then come inside with me," Derek offered immediately.

Spencer shook his head. "I'm not going to spend the night at your house either. I need to get home, to my own bed. I definitely need some rest right now, too."

"What if I can't find my key after all? Or if I can't find the keyhole? Or my bed?" pouted Derek. "You can't just leave me standing here."

"You're not even standing," Reid returned dryly, then reluctantly opened the door. "Come on, then. I'll walk you in."

Another smirk, but one Spencer didn't see as he got out, showed on Derek's lips. He had almost doubted whether he would succeed in luring Spencer into his house. But now everything was going according to plan. When the car door opened beside him, he looked up with a smile. "Oh, there you are. I was wondering where you disappeared to."

Derek let Spencer pull him out of the car, then deliberately clung to the boy to keep up the drunken image.

A few awkward maneuvers later, Morgan and Reid finally stood in Morgan's spacious living room. "Coffee!" groaned Derek, turning to his open kitchen. "I need coffee! You need coffee. And lots and lots of sugar!"

"Derek, I'm going home now. And you should lie down," Spencer tried again to pry himself away from his friend. But the latter immediately made another disappointed face. "Just a teeny tiny coffee?"

Spencer closed his eyes for a moment, struggling for patience. "Okay, one small coffee. That's all. But I have to go back out and lock the car."

For a moment Derek wondered if this was now an excuse and maybe Spencer wasn't planning on coming back in. But just in case, the next step in his plan was to be prepared. He quickly dimmed the lights that had just brightly illuminated the living room, connected his cell phone to the stereo, and selected a playlist of quiet, classical-influenced music that he had already put together for the occasion during the flight back from Atlanta. He threw some books and magazines on the armchair, plus the big blanket off the couch, so it would take effort to scoop the armchair free before sitting on it, and then quickly ran back to the kitchen to coax the promised coffee from the machine. It had to be strong, because he wanted Spencer to believe that the black drink had at least a slight sobering effect on him.

A click of the apartment door told him that the effort was not in vain. From Spencer's footsteps he could also tell that the boy noticed the changes, at least in part, but he said not a word about it. "Shall I make the coffee?" he inquired instead."

"No, almost done. Go sit on the couch. I'll bring him right over," Derek explained, swallowing a few syllables, but still quite understandable.

Spencer glanced briefly at the mess around the chair and then, to Derek's delight, settled down in the middle of the couch.

With the coffee cups full to the brim and not at all small, Derek walked into the living area. "Here, just the way you like it," Derek smiled as he thrust one of the two cups into Spencer's hand - and then almost plopped himself down on top of the boy instead of next to him on the couch. Spencer immediately backed away a little, but Derek wrapped an arm around his shoulder in friendship. "I'm glad you're here." His smile at those words was absolutely genuine.

The next few minutes passed in amicable silence as Morgan and Reid drank their coffee and listened to the soft music. Derek could tell by the look on Spencer's face that he wasn't entirely comfortable, and he himself felt some trepidation as well; after all, he was about to enter some pretty new territory. He was still pondering a bit when Spencer started, "I think I should now ..."

Okay, now or never.

"Shhh!" went Derek, silencing Spencer with a finger to his lips. He took the nearly empty coffee cup from his hands and set it down on the small table. Before he could lose heart himself, he grabbed the back of Reid's neck, pulled the surprised boy close, and kissed him.


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, thank you for all the kudos and comments on the past chapter. I was very happy that you liked the sequel. And I promise you: After this cliffhanger comes now what you have been waiting for ;-)  
> It will be extremely hot! 
> 
> Enjoy the new chapter. It's actually the longest of the whole story. I just wonder why ;-)  
> In any case, I'm already extremely excited about your feedback.
> 
> For those of you who don't want to read detailed sex scenes: Please switch to the next chapter after the dividing line.

He hadn't felt this good in a long time, Derek thought as he slowly woke up. Still with his eyes closed, he stretched out his arms and then slowly patted to his side.

"Oh no!" he gasped when, for the second time in a few days, he didn't find the man he was expecting to see there. Derek opened his eyes and looked around searchingly. No sign of Spencer and he couldn't hear any noise from downstairs either. Morgan quickly got up, slipped on his boxers that were lying on the floor, and then went in search of Spencer. It wasn't long before he found that the boy was gone.

Derek reached for his cell phone, which was still next to the stereo. No message. How long might Spencer have been gone? Had he scared him off completely now?

Morgan shuffled thoughtfully to the coffee machine - and only then discovered that there was a large yellow sticky note stuck to it. "I'm terribly sorry. I can really understand if you never want to speak to me again. Please forgive me. Spencer," it said.

Derek raised his eyebrows. He hadn't expected that either. He quickly reached for his cell phone again and typed a short message to Reid: "Is the breakfast date still on? Ten o'clock at the Café Santa Maria?

That should be enough of a sign to Spencer that he definitely still wanted to talk. Where had Reid's mind galloped to after the previous night?

While Morgan waited to get an answer from Reid, he went to take a shower, reviewing the previous night, which he remembered all too well this time.

\---

Spencer had been really shocked at the kiss and had pushed Derek off of him at first, but Derek had grabbed hold of his wrist and prevented the boy from just walking away. "Please, just one more kiss," he had murmured, pulling Spencer back against him. He could clearly sense from Spencer's posture that he was torn, but if he had really crossed a line, the boy would surely have vehemently stopped him.

Derek kissed Spencer only lightly, letting his lips slide gently over his and - when no further resistance was felt - down his cheek to his neck as well. Derek took his time. He loved kisses. The women he'd been with in the past had liked it when he indulged them with kisses, too. Then it was to be hoped that Spencer liked it too.

"Derek, you have to stop," Spencer sighed softly - but this time he didn't push his friend away. "Please!" And that sounded more like a desire for more. Derek was able to comply with that. As he let his mouth trail over Spencer's lips again, he moved a hand to his back. With the light caress across his spine that Spencer could clearly feel through his shirt, he provoked a gentle tremor in the boy. And with each slow up and down, he moved more toward his target: Spencer's butt. A distinct wince ran through Spencer as Derek finally let his hand wander briskly over Spencer's cheeks.

"Derek," Spencer murmured against his lips. "Please stop."

"You don't want me to," Derek returned as he released his lips from Spencer's briefly, but returned immediately. He gently bit Spencer's lower lip and at the same time, while he was still dealing with the new sensation, pulled him right onto his lap.

This was what he had hoped for: where they touched, Spencer's arousal became clearly palpable to him. Slightly, Derek moved his hips under Spencer to show him that they were in the same boat. "I want you!", Derek whispered in Spencer's ear as he did so. "You told me recently that I could have you. I want you! Now!"

The answer didn't turn out quite the way Derek wanted it to, because now Spencer was clearly pushing away from him after all. "You're drunk. You don't even know what you're talking about. Anything we do now, you'll regret tomorrow."

Derek shook his head vehemently. "I know exactly what I'm doing. And what I want. And I'm pretty sure you want the same thing."

He slid his hand between Spencer's legs and pressed it against Spencer's arousal. " That's not what happens when you're not hot for each other," Derek murmured.

Spencer groaned, but still tried to argue against it. "Then tell me how many men you've been with."

"None but you."

"And how many men have you wanted?"

"None but you."

"Yeah, and that's only because the alcohol is making your brain go..."

Spencer broke off as Derek closed his mouth with another kiss. The boy kissed back just as passionately, but then broke off the kiss again, panting slightly. "If you were sober, or if there was even a single woman around here, you wouldn't even think of trying to sleep with me," he insisted. But still Spencer didn't really try to get out of Derek's arms.

"I promise you, you could get a whole harem here and I wouldn't look at any of them. Please, give me this night. Show me what it's like to love you."

Spencer froze, looked searchingly into Derek's eyes, blinked slowly. "One night," he murmured, then pressed his mouth to Derek's again.

In the shower, Derek had to hold onto himself to keep from jerking off again at the memory of what came next. Spencer had been a changed man all of a sudden. He had kissed him hard and brought his teeth into play. At the same time he had tugged at Derek's shirt until he had pulled it out of his pants and could slide his hands underneath. From then on, everything blurred a little before Derek's eyes. All he knew was that it hadn't taken long before they were both standing in his bedroom and he was stripping Spencer of his clothes piece by piece. Only when it came to the underpants had he hesitated.

"We can stop," Spencer had whispered, probably not missing the uncertainty in Derek's gaze. But Derek had shaken his head silently. That was the last thing he wanted. It was just different to think about sex with a man purely in theory, or to vaguely remember such a thing, than to experience it directly himself now - and to be aware that you were just throwing your previous sexual orientation overboard.

"You have to tell me what you like," he said to Spencer. "This is pretty new to me."

Spencer nodded. "Just touch me the way you want to be touched. The rest will come."

Derek had to chuckle, even though he knew the ambiguity of his own words had probably escaped Spencer. "Just better not too soon," he muttered. "I want to experience everything with you."

Spencer's eyes widened. "Everything?" Derek nodded. But Spencer bit his lips nervously. Lowering his head, he returned. "I don't have much experience there either."

Derek bristled. "Are you saying ..." He left the sentence unfinished when he saw Spencer nod. "Hands, blowjobs, but nothing more. You probably know even more about the rest than I do."

Somehow it almost reassured Derek that Spencer didn't have much more experience than he did. "Then let's explore this together," he murmured as his fingers slid into the waistband of Spencer's underpants and pushed them down.

He didn't dare take a long look, but let his eyes and hands rest on Spencer's chest again for now. Slowly he let his fingers slide down Spencer's torso until he finally reached his stiff cock. Carefully, he let one finger stroke it before grasping it and slowly running his hand up and down from root to tip.

Spencer sucked in an audible breath and let Derek have a little before demanding, "Take your clothes off. I want to see you."

Derek took a step back. He knew he could get rid of his clothes very seductively, but he didn't even need to now. He just wanted to get rid of the clothes as quickly as possible so he could feel Spencer's eyes and touch on his skin.

When Derek was naked, Spencer pulled him over to the bed and sat on the edge, bringing Derek right in front of him. He looked up at him as he reached for him. "Do you want me to ..." He places a light kiss on the top of Derek's cock. But before he could do more, Derek's fingers slid into his hair and pulled him back slightly. "Not this time. Otherwise, the night will be over in five minutes."

Spencer nodded, then pushed himself further onto the bed, legs slightly apart. "How do you want me?" he asked, and memories of the last fateful night immediately came back to Derek.

"Can I ... I want ... I ..."

Spencer smiled. "You're not going to get shy now, are you?" he teased him lightly.

Derek swallowed, but then growled, "I want to be inside you. I want to feel you around me, knowing that when you come, all you can think about is me."

Derek could see how Spencer's heartbeat quickened at his words. "I need you to prepare me. Do you have ..."

"Lube, top drawer on the right. Condoms too," Derek returned, then crawled onto the bed between Spencer's legs. He had experimented with a girlfriend once and knew he had to gently stretch Spencer before he could penetrate him.

Spencer handed him the gel and condom, then looked at him with a trusting look. "It's probably easier from behind," he murmured, and started to turn around. But Derek held him by the hips. "I want to look you in the eye while we do it. I want to see every moment that it's you I'm having sex with. As sexy as your ass is, I want to see your face."

Derek's hand slid over Spencer again a few times before he opened the gel and squeezed out a generous portion. He spread the gel over his fingers before placing them at Spencer's entrance and lightly running them over the muscle.

Spencer quivered under his touch and Derek noticed that his own fingers were trembling as well. This was now the moment of truth. With his fingers he would be inside Spencer in a moment and a little later with his cock. Then he could never again claim to be completely straight.

Derek looked up at Spencer's eyes. "I think I love you," he murmured, then slid a finger inside Spencer.

Spencer opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He just stared at Derek, transfixed.

Slowly Derek moved his finger inside Spencer, only millimeters at first, then deeper and deeper. When he heard light sighing from Spencer, he pulled back briefly, then seconds later carefully made his way in with two fingers.

When he suddenly heard a soft cry from Spencer, he knew he had found what he was looking for. He carefully circled the bundle of nerves, whose touch caused Spencer to moan and clutch at the sheets.

"Derek, please!" groaned Spencer.

"Yes?"

"Please!"

"Tell me what you want. Or are you playing coy now," Derek demanded with a smile.

"You. Inside me. Now!" gasped Spencer. But Derek shook his head. "You're not ready."

Derek reached for the gel again. First another finger. He was impatient himself, but he certainly didn't want to hurt Spencer.

Carefully, Derek pressed another fingertip into Spencer. He could feel the resistance. "Relax. You're so tight," he murmured. "Give in to me." With his other hand, he reached out and stroked Spencer's cock, gently at first, then more forcefully. The extra touch distracted Spencer, and Derek felt the tightness around his fingers slowly ease, allowing him to go deeper.

A few minutes later - Spencer by now producing nothing but low moans - Derek withdrew his fingers from him.

"Don't! What are you doing?" whined Spencer immediately.

But Derek leaned over him and sealed his mouth with a passionate kiss. "Now you're ready," he murmured as he lifted his head again.

Wide-eyed, Spencer watched as Derek rolled the condom over himself and then spread the gel liberally on his cock.

"Okay?" asked Derek as he placed his cock at Spencer's entrance. Spencer nodded. And at the same moment, Derek slowly eased into him.

Hot and tight and just plain good, Derek had to control himself tremendously not to go deep inside Spencer right away, but to give the boy time to get used to him. He had only pressed his tip into Spencer and was waiting for Spencer, who had groaned out while squeezing his eyes tight, to look at him again. He had to make sure he didn't hurt Spencer. The seconds seemed interminable until Spencer opened his eyes again. "Thanks," the boy sighed, as if he knew full well that Derek had been waiting for his cue. "You can...can now...aah!"

Derek didn't let Spencer finish. He pushed forward a little, pulled back, and repeated the motion. Slowly he worked his way forward until finally his entire length was embedded in Spencer.

Spencer hadn't taken his eyes off him for a moment. His gaze, a mixture of excitement, innocence and uncertainty, captivated him. Derek leaned down to Spencer again and covered his face and neck with little kisses. Spencer's hands reached out and held onto his shoulders. Then he murmured to him. "Please, move. I can't take much more of this. And I want to feel you come inside me!"

A loud moan escaped Derek's throat before he sat up a bit, pulling out of Spencer almost completely. But in the very next moment, he thrust deep inside him again. Spencer groaned and contracted around him. But Derek did not let up. In steady long thrusts, he moved inside Spencer, fueling his own arousal and that of his partner. As he felt Spencer's tight channel tighten around him, he put more force into his thrusts, getting faster and harder. Spencer's quiet continuous moans turned into little cries, punctuated by a litany of "Yes!" and "Derek!"

Derek himself noticed how he, too, was nearing his climax. "Come with me!" he demanded, grasping Spencer's cock and thrusting violently into him at the same time.

Spencer reared back, moaning loudly and spilling over Derek's hand. His muscles twitched and he contracted around Derek, bringing him to climax as well.


	32. Chapter 32

Wrapping a towel around his hips, Derek returned to his bedroom and immediately grabbed his cell phone. Relieved, he saw that Spencer had answered him.

"I'll be there," read the message, which gave no indication of what was going on inside Reid right now.

"Me too, pretty boy, me too," Derek muttered to himself as he grabbed a white shirt and dark blue jeans from the closet. If he hadn't been so sure that night, he definitely was now: he had indeed fallen in love with Spencer. And now he would do his utmost to never let the boy leave his side.

As Derek approached the Café Santa Maria, he saw Spencer from a distance. The long slender figure with the tangled hair, wandering restlessly up and down a few meters from his destination, could only be Spencer. Deep in thought, the boy didn't even notice when Morgan stepped up beside him.

"Hi Spence, I missed you this morning," he greeted him with a smile. Startled, Spencer winced. "Derek! ... Um ... Hi! ... I ... well ... I did ... I ..."

"Hey, kid, take a deep breath," Derek immediately tried to calm him down. "It's all okay. Breathe in ... and breathe out. ... In ... and out. That's it."

Derek waited until he saw Spencer's breathing really begin to calm down.

"Why are you standing around here? Isn't there any seat left for us?" he then started an innocuous topic first, glancing at the tables in front of the cafe.

"I didn't know if you wanted to sit inside or outside," Spencer quietly returned.

"Outside is fine," Derek replied, taking Spencer's hand and pulling him toward a vacant table against the wall of the house. "Have a seat. I'm sure there'll be coffee in a minute. It'll make you feel better."

"Aren't you mad at me at all?" inquired Spencer abruptly.

"Why? Because you gave me a taste of my own medicine? Certainly not," Derek returned as he sat down. Spencer carefully settled on the edge of the chair across from him.

"Are you okay?" - "What do you mean your medicine?" they both spoke at the same time.

Spencer blushed at the same moment. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just a little ... um ... overexerted?"

Derek had to bite his lips to keep from giggling away like a little girl. "Overexerted? Are your muscles sore from lying around?" he burst out. But immediately he apologized, "Sorry, that wasn't fair. Are you sure you're okay?"

Spencer nodded. "But what did you just mean?"

But before Derek could answer, a waitress approached their table and asked for their order. Derek, who frequented the café, didn't let Spencer get a word in edgewise and ordered a fancy breakfast menu for two and - most urgently - two large servings of coffee.

"I don't really have an appetite," Spencer muttered as the waitress disappeared again. But Derek didn't address that at all. "To your question, you took off after our second night together just as I did after our first. And you even left me a message, which I didn't manage to do. In that respect, I have no right whatsoever to be mad at you."

"Our first what?" brought out Spencer incredulously. "Derek, are you sure you're sober by now? We've ... we've only had one ... one time together ..."

"And there's your misconception. I'm quite sure I'm sober. And I wasn't drunk yesterday either. Unlike you a week ago."

"You poured shot after shot into yourself and couldn't walk straight when I brought you home. You could hardly call that sober," Spencer returned. "And I'm sure if we had slept together before yesterday, I would know that."

"Says the guy who explained to me that his eidetic memory is like Swiss cheese once it comes under the influence of alcohol."

Spencer blanched. "Does that mean ... does that mean ..."

"That you already gave me a nearly unforgettable night once a week ago. Yes," Derek explained with a small smile.

But Spencer buried his face in his hands, groaning.

It wasn't until Derek heard a soft sniffle that he realized Spencer was pretty close to a breakdown right now for some reason.

"Hey, pretty boy, talk to me. Why do you have such a big problem with us and what happened between us?" he asked cautiously.

"Why?" returned Spencer quietly. "Why? Because I took advantage of your condition. And that, as you're telling me right now, not just once but twice. I know you're not into men. And yet ... and yesterday ... all I wanted was one ... one night. But that's so wrong."

Gently, Derek pulled Spencer's hands from his face. "Look at me, Spence. Do I look like I have a problem with this? Granted, after our first night, I had one. Plus, I couldn't remember what happened at first either. That's why I was so panicked. But by now ... by now I know that it doesn't matter at all whether I'm into men or not. I'm into you!"

Spencer looked at Derek out of red-rimmed eyes. "Derek, you're a terrible liar," he said softly. "Don't you know you're not helping me by doing that, you're hurting me even more? Stop it! Yell at me, be mad, but don't pretend anything just to make me feel better for half an hour."

Derek got serious. " I'm not pretending anything to you. I told you last night, but I like to repeat it: I think I'm falling in love with you."

Spencer just shook his head and stood up. But Derek was faster: he jumped up and held Spencer by the shoulders before he could run away. "You don't believe me? What do I have to do to prove it to you? Do you want me to put it in writing? Do you want me to put it up on a billboard? Or ... or should I just kiss you right here in front of everyone?"

Spencer's eyes grew wide. "Don't joke with me," he begged softly. And Derek knew he had hit the mark with his last suggestion. He pulled Spencer into his arms and pressed his lips to Spencer's until he slowly relented and returned the kiss.

"This ... this can't be happening," Spencer murmured as Derek pulled away from him again. With his fingers, he touched his mouth as if to verify that those were really his lips Derek had kissed.

"It's true," Derek confirmed, gently pushing Spencer back into the chair just in time to make room for the waitress who approached with their breakfast.

When they were alone again, Spencer still sat motionless.

"You're starting to scare me," Derek said, reaching for Spencer's hand. "Are you still with me?"

"Yeah, I think so. Or I just died and went to heaven," Spencer muttered.

Derek could only respond with a smile. "Then let me tell you how you seduced me the first time we were together. And if you can't remember ... well then maybe we should re-enact the scene," he suggested with a grin.

"Derek?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you, too."


	33. Chapter 33

SD Group Chat

**Garcia:** *ping* _load image to open it?_

**Prentiss:** Whaaat?

**Jareau:** Is that a photo montage?

**Rossi:** It looks pretty real.

**Garcia:** _@Prentiss_ Yaaay, finally!

**Garcia:** _@Jareau_ No, definitely not a montage.

**Garcia:** @ _Rossi_ Do you doubt I could create a photo montage like that?

**Prentiss:** I don't believe it!

**Prentiss:** Is that really Morgan and Reid?

**Prentiss:** Kissing each other?

**Prentiss:** In public?

**Garcia:** Yeah! And the way they're kissing! _*grins*_

**Jareau:** Are you spying on those two?

**Rossi:** Of course I don't question your Photoshop skills. But I am a profiler. I take into account past behavior and the likelihood of future behavior. And that makes the scenario at hand quite realistic.

**Garcia:** _@Jareau_ Now where did you get such a far-fetched idea? ;-)

**Garcia:** _@Rossi_ Can't you just say you're glad?

**Rossi:** I'm glad.

**Prentiss:** _@Garcia_ Are you watching all of us?

**Garcia:** You're not exciting enough to do that. But if my chocolate muffin promises to keep me in the loop and then barely tells me anything, he's got to expect me to get the info myself.

**Prentiss:** At least he didn't outright lie to you! I wasn't even told by Morgan that his problem was about a man. If J.J. hadn't enlightened me, I wouldn't know to this day that he had a crush on Reid.

**Rossi:** You could tell by the tip of both their noses.

**Jareau:** So why didn't Mr. Super-Profiler Rossi do anything to help them out?

**Rossi:** They did it themselves.

**Garcia:** With my help!

**Prentiss:** With my help!

**Jareau:** With my help!

**Rossi:** _*grins*_ So there was no need for me to get involved as well.

**Jareau:** Should we shut down the SD group chat now that they're finally together?

**Prentiss:** _@Jareau_ What are you thinking? Then where would Penny send us all the interesting pictures she's yet to dig up of the two of them? _*giggle*_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe it myself: this is actually the end of this story. Thanks to everyone who has followed my "journey" with Derek and Spencer to this point. I would be happy if you would leave me some comments about what you liked most or where I was wrong.  
> You are also welcome to write me suggestions what you would like to read in the future.  
> I hope you will stay tuned. I actually plan to post a new story tomorrow.


End file.
